One Eyed King Rebirth 2
by HunterXKiller87
Summary: Vent is an Otaku, his favourite Manga? Tokyo Ghoul. What happens when he is summoned into Gamindustri? Why him exactly? Also, what happens if he's summoned right when ASIC has taken over? Not everything is as it seems...
1. Chapter 1 - Arrival of an Unknown

**AU - Hi ya'll!**

 **Now, I'm aware that one shouldn't publish too many of their stories, otherwise they will be caught up trying to update each one, thus losing valuable time that could be spent editing. However, I wished to give this story a spot on my updated stories list since I worked on this one as much as my OEG: Rebirth story. This has been written while at college, so unfortunately there's not as many pre-written chapters, only about 30 or so, but this should satisfy those who want to see more of my content.**

 **Also in regards to pairings, I'm uncertain for now. I initially though of another OC x Harem like OEG rebirth, but variation has to exist between stories otherwise they'll feel like the cliché bullshit we know today. Also, since I wrote this at college, once I reach the number of chapters I've previously written, updates will slow, so sorry about that. I intend to complete both stories, though, so don't worry about that!**

 **Plus, writing OC's is a specialty of mine, as you've all seen in OEG: Rebirth.**

 **Now then, chapter start!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1 - Arrival of an unknown**

Gamindustri, a land filled with magic, monsters and girls that transform into busty ladies in skin-tight swimsuits whilst holding dangerous and sharp futuristic weapons, well some of them are not very busty when they transform, but never tell them that to their faces – these are the goddesses. Four main goddesses rule over the nations of Gamindustri, in peace and prosperity. These are:

Planeptune, the Land of Purple Progress, ruled by Purple Heart or Neptune,

Lastation, the Land of Black Regality, ruled by Black Heart or Noire,

Leanbox, the Land of Green Pastures, ruled by Green Heart or Vert,

Lowee, the Land of White Serenity, ruled by White Heart or Blanc,

These nations, along with their goddesses, stand side-by-side in peace to protect the land from any danger that dare to show itself. Events seem peaceful enough, but there is always something lurking in the dark places of the world, there is always something waiting to show itself and strike a deadly blow against the goddesses, there is always something that these villains seek above all else: power. In this case, it would not be the rogue organisation taking their shares, nor would it be anything they would have expected. They think they know what monsters were, those weird looking ones that emit a less threatening presence than what they should be.

However, they were going to learn a lesson: what a REAL monster was.

* * *

'Oh man, I'm so totally stoked! This is the best highlight of my day!' one young protagonist male of 17 years of age squealed in his mind, joy coursing through him like a hyperactivity-inducing drug as he headed home, carrying a plastic bag filled with goods from his favourite anime of all time: Tokyo Ghoul. Tokyo Ghoul was an all-time favourite not only in anime but also in Manga form. It was widely popular in both Japan and in the European regions, and while many see the manga as better than the anime, he himself just enjoyed them, especially that mind-blowing opening.

He was a tall, but lean built young man, about 6 foot. His hair was a dark brownish colour, with his eyes a dark green. He had a slight moustache forming above his upper lip, and a hairless chin. He wore a dark green coloured jacket, with lighter green highlights, as well as lighter green stripes below the shoulders. On the left breast, there was a small light green badge with a V in the centre. Underneath that was a dark blue shirt with an orange flaming ball with a black outline designed into the centre. On his lower body, he wore a pair of black jeans with orange flame designs along the bottom of the leg sleeves, and a pair of dark green sneakers with matching flame designs, and lighter green soles.

It didn't take him long to return to his apartment. Unlike most people, he lived alone because he was an orphan. It had been so for years on end, ever since first his father, his mother, and his uncle, which was the most recent family loss, went to the other side. He didn't care much for his uncle, asshole had it coming, but his mother and father were completely different stories. He didn't remember them much, but they did have family photos of them, hidden from his Uncle of course. Then there was the family heirloom that his family had left behind for him, something he had kept away from his Uncle so he didn't get his grubby mits on what he had left from them. When his Uncle passed on, as the public thinks, he had been able to salvage the heirloom becoming its last owner since every other family member he had was either dead or unwilling to take him in. His father disappointed many majorly for marrying his mother for whatever reason, but he didn't care.

Entering his apartment, the boy kicked off his trainers and began heading towards the living room. It was a simple arrangement; there was a table in the middle of the room with 2 2-seat sofas arranged in a perpendicular formation around it, with a TV in the corner. There was a small box on top of the TV, a box containing his family heirloom: A black ring made out of form fitting leather, a ring that had grey coloured punkish spike stubble on it. He had always wondered why something like that was an heirloom, but didn't really put any more thought into it.

'Alright Vent, it's time to watch some badassery known as Tokyo Ghoul!' the now named Vent thought while rubbing his hands like a stereotypical evil genius with a matching grin. He'd deal with his new merchandise later, he wanted to watch some of the first season for now. With that in mind, Vent went to the TV, plucking out a DVD box that was the entire first season of Tokyo Ghoul, before inserting the Disk into the built in DVD player on the side of the TV. His Uncle may have been an asshole, but he did have connections and riches despite his… habits, and combined with his inheritance from his parents, and Vent had little need of a job for years to come. He'd finished Highschool earlier than most because of his above average learning ability and unique learning curve, so he was taking a small break to wind down.

The screen began to boot up, so Vent went to one of the Sofas and plumped down on it, the cushion bending under his sudden weight. As the screen flickered to life and the usual adverts began rolling, Vent began to think to himself, 'honestly, I have no idea what I wanna do with my life now. I never really had any goals in mind when I finished Highschool, nothing grand anyways. Even though my father's family was popular and the like, I don't want to be anything like them. Bastards just left me to rot after my asshole of an Uncle died so…'

Just then, right before the main menu of the DVD came up the screen suddenly changed. To his shock, it became a pure white screen, with a slow-to-form power button symbol appearing on the centre. "What the…? Is the DVD broken…?" Vent exclaimed while getting up to check on the DVD Disk. However, he couldn't get the player open, which proved to frustrate him greatly. He didn't want one of his favourite Anime DVD's to be broken! That would suck!

The screen slowly began glowing, drawing his attention. "Okay, what the FUCK is going on here?" he wondered, groaning in frustration. 'If this is another fuckup I have to deal with thanks to my Uncle…' before he could get up and ring for an engineer, the screen began to flash, and in that moment Vent felt that his mind was slowly falling into slumber, AKA he was falling unconscious. He tried to fight it, but the sensation grew with each and every second that passed. Finally, he fell backwards, landing back first on the Table. But for some strange reason his body wasn't injured by the fall. Before he finally closed his eyes, the last thing Vent heard was a voice, and it said 'it is time. Arise, young warrior. Your home needs you…'

* * *

"Finally… he is returning to his roots."

"It's still surprising that one managed to escape HER wrath when you were alive and… physical."

"Not really, she was always resourceful, plans within plans. She must have put some of her essence out of her body before the fated battle, and that essence must have travelled to that world. In the end though, that would serve to better her own world in the process, giving us hope when all seemed lost."

"Yes, I must agree. It is still difficult to believe things have gotten this bad. However, even I must admit that faith can be fickle at the worst of times. And this is all my fault anyways, if I hadn't done what I did back then, perhaps things wouldn't have ended up this way, and HE would not have had to come to his true home with such circumstances."

"You had no idea back then, nor could you have known with the situation being as it was at that time. Do not blame yourself for something almost entirely out of your control. Instead, focus on the desire to save them."

"I know. However, I fear these doubts will linger until we save them from HER scheme. If we are to be victorious, we will need all the help we can get. Are you sure that it is wise to bring the boy over here? He will not know a thing."

"Indeed, I am sure. The boy may not know it, but he on his own is a miracle for those girls. It is proof enough that they do not need to fear finding a suitable mate… that they do not have to remain alone."

"Let's just hope he survives long enough for me to meet him."

"Yes, lets."

* * *

Consciousness finally returned to Vent as he groaned, a dull headache throbbing inside him. "Ugh, somebody get the licence plate of that truck?" he mumbled to himself while getting to a sitting position. The moment his hands touched the ground though, his headache was forgotten as his eyes widened. Shuffling his hands for a second, he looked down and saw that he was not on the floor of his house, but what looked like charred earth. 'Holy- what the fuck?!'

This was NOT what he recalled when he had last been conscious! Why was the ground charred? Why wasn't he in his house, did someone come in and kidnap him? And if so how the fuck was that possible?! Burglary was a serious crime you know, and someone should have noticed any shady figures unlocking the doors to someone's house, no matter the situation! And why the hell did his alarms not work when this was going on?! WHAT. THE. FUCK?!

Quickly getting to his feet and noting that he had his sneakers on, Vent looked around trying to get a clear view of his apparent new surroundings. If he thought that would make the confusion any clearer, he was dead wrong, for there was nothing familiar about wherever he had ended up. All around him, death had a form, with large piles upon piles of nothing but junk, destroyed consoles, wires sprawled all over the place, even several dead people in ceremonial kimonos here and there. The skies above were not a bright blue like he remembered, but a fierce, bloody red, with constant clouds concealing the sun from view. This made telling the time via the sun and stars practically impossible for him, much to the male's irritation.

And irritation plus confusion was a VERY bad combination.

Constantly Vent shifted around, his eyes wide with shock, fear and confusion. He couldn't recognise where he was at all, nothing was recognisable to him right now. After a few minutes, the male forced himself to calm down, taking a few deep breaths while his wide eyes slowly shrunk back to the usual circular position, a calmness overtaking him thanks to the fresh oxygen in his lungs. Although, it didn't taste very good, it had the scent of out-dated oils mixed with iron.

Once he was (reasonably) calm again, Vent decided to check and see if he was alone. If he was, then he could formulate a plan in peace, but if he wasn't then he would have to verify if they were an enemy. One of the rules to survive in the wilds was to confirm one's territory by verifying the wildlife and flora within a certain radius. This was key, else an unknown predator may stumble upon you in your sleep then take you as its next easy meal. Closing his eyes, Vent calmed everything in his mind, focusing only on what his senses were telling him. His ears shifted at the slightest sound, his nose twitched as it took in scents from the air, his feet slightly edged towards any vibrations.

After a few minutes, his eyes opened and Vent sighed with relief, "phew, looks like I am alone…" he muttered, before he decided to head out to see where the heck the exit was. It was true that he should have set up a campsite, if this were any normal situation. However, one: he lacked the necessary equipment, two: this place had an ominous atmosphere that really didn't sit well with him unlike the calm serenity of the forces of nature, and three: something just screamed at him to get as far away from this place as possible.

The first thing he had to do was find the exit to this place. He didn't like how this place was, so he decided to head out. However, that was not to be, for his eyes widened when he heard a feral growl in the distance. 'what? Wildlife? Wildlife thrives in these conditions?!' Vent exclaimed in his head, before taking a few breaths to calm down. 'Wait, that's not so unexpected, after all if life can grow in deserted landscapes like in edgypt, or the south pole, then desolate junkyards can be ideal for some life too. Probably insects though, but still, that roar… HOLY SHIT!'

BOOM!

His thoughts turned to panic when Vent rolled out to the side, avoiding a massive blur which had crashed to where he had stood. The shockwave made his body bounce slightly while he rolled, but Vent paid little mind to that as he quickly got a considerable distance from where he had once been. He then got to his feet, dirt and rubble sliding along the ground with the sounds ringing in his ears still.

When all became silent, the male peered out towards where the blur had crashed, which was cconcealed by a dust cloud born from its impact. Whatever had crashed there had some sinister presence, one that felt like it was trying to burn him just with him being aware of it at al. he felt like his lungs were forcefully stripped of all oxygen and replaced by burning ash and cinders. His mouth was slightly open, refusing his brain's commands to shut itself as he stared at the dust which began to clear.

As it did though, Vent instantly wished that it didn't. If there was anything that could cause nightmares like the boogieman, or if there was any such indications that demons and Satan himself existed, then this would be that, for not only was it super freaking ugly, it also pissed him off inside. Vent gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, not realising that he was pressing his fingers against both sides of his fsamily's heirloom ring on his right hand's index finger.

The creature grumbled and growled as its grotesque form was made known to him. The reason why he looked so terrified of it was because well… it looked like a twisted amalamation of human bodyparts. The body was long and slim, made out of many human upper torsos, connected by strands of red entrails, muscle and fibres. There was a skeletal armour over several parts of its body, some with spikes jutting out while the head was remniscent of a human, the eyes and mouth being hollow sockets. The only reason why he was aware of it growling or hissing was the sounds it made from its open mouth. But that wasn't all, there were lots of long thin womanly 'legs' jutting out of its sides from what looked like more deformed faces, ending in clawed talons that once resembled feet. On the other end, there was a tail made out of a human spinal column, ending in a sharpened tip.

And the reason why he was so angry? Because it reminded him of a Centipede.

It reminded him of Kaneki Ken, how horrible he had seen himself as of the first part of Tokyo Ghoul. It was reminiscent of his Kakuja, how he had seen himself as a twisted horrific version of an insect, based off what had happened to him. This thing that stood before him, reminded him of how Kaneki once was, and that pissed Vent off big time. Fear and anger warred within him, fighting for dominance over his brain in order to tell him what to do. In the end though… anger won.

"I have no idea who or what the fuck you are…" Vent whispered, looking down while shadows from his hair concealed his eyes from view. His teeth clenched so tight that they looked like they were about to crack under the pressure. His head shot up to glare at the monster before him that dared imitate the monster his favourite anime/manga character saw himself. The ring began shining brightly as he ran towards it.

"BUT WELCOME TO THE RICEFIELDS MOTHERFUCKER!"

* * *

"Tch, we've been walking forever…" one brown haired girl sighed in dismay, trudging along the junk covered paths. Her blue boots crushed cables and other junk as she wandered the wastelands, making the girl cringe to show her disgust with what she was doing. It was clear that she didn't want to be here, especially with how she would clench and unclench her fists to keep her mind off the building anxiety in her chest. The girl looked up from her previous action of gazing at the ground to make sure she didn't trip, to look at the surroundings, as if searching for someone.

This girl had fair skin, with brown hair and green eyes. She wore a blue overcoat with the sleeves too long for her, a black tank top and matching shorts along with her boots that matched her overcoat. Around the waist of her overcoat were a series of phones, each of a different colour.

Fortunately, she wasn't alone, as she had one other companion. "I know… wonder where everyone might be…" another girl, this one noticeably more girly than her companion, questioned with a desperation in her tone that only came from someone who hadn't seen someone in a while and had been looking for them for a very long time. She had creamy coloured hair and matching eyes, her hair having been held back by a black headband with a red C logo. Her attire consisted of a creamy coloured sweater with detached sleeves, exposing the shoulders, a black choker around her neck, a red patterned skirt around her waist with a black hip purse with a matching C logo as her headband, a pair of black stockings with pink heart trims, and woolly creamy boots matching her sweater.

Both girls shared each other's downed moods, with frowns on their mouths they trudged through the wasteland in their mission, whatever that may be. As she walked, the cream haired girl placed her hand on something sharp, making her go "eek!" and cut herself. The sound was detected by the brunette's ears, which were on high alert thanks to the creepy atmosphere, and combined with the fact that she was sweaty, annoyed, and highly disturbed by how sinister everything looked made her jump out of her skin.

"Whoa, what the heck Compa?!" she exclaimed, turning around to glare at her companion. Her glare immediately shifted into an expression of concern when she noticed the cut on 'Compa's hand, the girl holding her injured hand to her chest with her eyes closed tight, tears in the corner of them. "You alright? Your hand looks like its bleeding!" she asked, walking up to her and cupping her hand.

Compa nodded meekly, quickly reaching into her purse with her free hand, the only one she had that WASN'T injured, and pulled out a roll of bandages. "Y-yeppers, I'm gonna be healthy again, Iffy." She said, wrapping her hand in bandages. She then put what was left inside her purse again, closing it for later use. She didn't doubt it wouldn't be used again, hopefully not on her though. Compa didn't like getting hurt.

The Brunette rolled her eyes at her companion, turning on her heel and walking forwards, "well, try to be careful Compa, we gotta save Nep and the others. We can't do that if one of us is down." She called out to her friend while not pausing in her stride. There was a sense of urgency in her steps, an urgency that was well understood by her friend as the Brunette resumed her search. After all, no normal person would come to a desolate place like this for a vacation, no, they had no choice to come here.

Just as they were about to head out, the two girls jumped when they heard a feminine moan in the distance. "H-huh?!" Compa cried out in surprise and alarm. However, when her brain registered it a familiar face formed in her mind as she directed her attention to her companion, "iffy, did you hear-"

"Yeah, I did! That was Nep's voice! C'mon girl, we gotta go see what's up with that goofball!" the brunette, or Iffy as Compa called her which sounded a lot like a codename or nickname, responded quickly, having interrupted Compa's admittingly rhetorical question. With that, the brunette floored it, rushing forth with an urgency that was unseen before, hope and life seemingly flooding back into her body.

"Yessie!"

* * *

The girls ran until they had reached a small clearing; in which they had heard the feminine voice of the one they had called 'Nep'. Slightly panted from running for so long without rest, the brunette looked around for any sign of the person they were looking for. It didn't last long. "Look, its Nep!" she exclaimed, pointing at a figure ahead of them. They jogged on over to where this person was… and saw a particularly gruesome sight.

There, suspended in the air, was their goal, along with several other girls. Her hair was a dark lilac-purple while her eyes were blue, with a glowing white power button symbol. Her hair was very long and is worn in twin-tail braids while her bangs and the hair that framed her face are somewhat longer. Her head had black circular pieces with glowing blue x's on them as hair clips. Her figure was curvy and mature, while her body was covered by a suit which resembles a black skin-tight leotard with purple segments and silver pieces along it. The legs were covered in a stocking-like armour up to the thighs, while the feet were that of a robot's. Also, her arms were covered in black clawed gauntlets, each with their purple and blue pieces.

She was also badly injured, her injuries looking like they had been there for a while.

"I-Iffy… Compa…?" the woman asked, only one eye open and even then it was barely open at all. The woman was held in a compromising position, her arms above her head with her suit shredded in certain areas. That, combined with how the chords that suspended her seemed to be draining some sort of purple energy from her, made her state to be something that was worthy of a few winces from the girls. They had expected the situation with their goal to be bad, but this was WAY worse than what they were expecting.

Compa then looked to the side, and her eyes landed on something. She quickly gestured to the thing that she found, drawing the brunette's attention, "Look, Its Ge-Ge, and the other CPUs!"

Indeed, the purple haired woman wasn't alone. Suspended alongside her were several other girls, each of them wearing different coloured skin-tight suits. The one that was referred to as 'Ge-Ge' by Compa had light lilac coloured hair that split at the waist, with a white headpiece on the side of her head. Her suit, unlike the woman's, was white with purple. There was a revealing chest piece on the centre, coloured purple as well. It connects around the neck with similar white and purple gloves and boots. She didn't look nearly as bad as the woman did, but she did look slightly injured.

Around her were several other girls who were unconscious just like her. One had teal coloured hair in a long ponytail, several bangs framing her heart shaped face. She wore a white two-piece suit that resembled a Bikini with small black and green pieces. Also, she wore matching gloves and boots. Her arms also had gauntlets on them of similar design to the purple haired woman's, with her own colours.

The other girl in white had light blue coloured hair with messy bangs, a cowlick out the top, with several strands falling down her shoulders. She had a one-piece suit, like the lilac haired girl with black and blue pieces. Her arms were covered by her gloves and gauntlets of matching design, while her legs had matching stockings.

Lastly was a woman with silky white hair to her waist, flared out behind her with bangs framing her face like the green haired woman. She wore a black one-piece suit with the top of the breast and stomach area cut out while it connects around her neck. Her arm and legwear was the same as the others with her own colours, black and silver.

All of them looked to be just as injured as the purple haired woman, suspended together with a pair of swords, an axe, and a Lance speared into a mass of chords atop their wielders, making it look like a makeshift throne. Compa covered her mouth with horrified eyes while the brunette turned her head away, not wanting to look at such a gruesome sight. "How awful… who would restrain them like this?"

Ignoring her friend's words, the brunette strutted over to the purple haired woman who had spoken her and her friends' names earlier. She grasped her shoulders and tried shaking her, "Nep, pull yourself together! Wake up damnit, this is not the time to be napping!" she yelled, trying to get into her face. However, the woman had already fallen under the sweet bliss of oblivion during the monologue earlier, rendering her attempts a failure.

This was made clear to the Brunette a few seconds later, prompting her to sigh in resignation before shaking her head. "No use, she's still out of it." She remarked. Her eyes gazed upon the restraints, and immediately she knew they weren't any ordinary ones. For one, every chord pulsated with a sinister feeling energy, just like the graveyard as a whole did.

Just looking at them made her skin crawl.

"Man, what is up with these Tentacle chord things?" she wondered, reaching to grasp them and pull them apart. However, the moment that her hands made contact with their surface, a stinging feeling bombarded the nerves within them, forcing a startled yelp from the brunette as she pulled them away from the Chords. Compa gasped in alarm as she went to tend to the Brunette's hands once again while a voice soon came to them through both their minds and their surroundings.

 _"_ _Do not attempt to physically force the Chords to release them. Compa, use the Sharicite I have prepared for you."_

Their eyes lit like lighthouse lights in realisation when they remembered what it was that the Voice had prepared for them. The Brunette looked up from her hands, ignoring the aching sensation in them and gave a look of seriousness towards Compa. It was clear what she wanted to do, but she spoke her sentence anyways, "Compa, the Sharicite, now! You're the one who had it right?"

At this, the cream haired girl nodded as she pulled her Purse up to her stomach, quickly opening the flap to rummage inside for the item that they required at this time. "R-right! Its somewhere in my handy dandy Nurse's pouch." She said while constantly rummaging through the Purse. There were a lot of items she had stored inside, most of them for her profession as a Medic, so it would take a bit of time to get to the very bottom where the Sharicite had been stored. Compa had put it there so she would know where to look when the time was right.

"I won't allow it!"

Their eyes flared as they all gasped at the sudden new voice that yelled out from nearby. One of the piles of junk exploded outwards, debris falling and littering the ground. The girls cried out in surprise at this, quickly getting into defensive stances. They both summoned weapons from light coloured particles, for Compa it was a 2 handed Syringe with a strange pink coloured liquid inside of it. As for IF, she had a pair of tri pronged swortswords called 'Qatars'.

Soon, the cause of that junk pile's eruption flew down and landed before them, creating a large crater upon impact. It was surrounded quickly by the dust from the landing, though this was dispersed just as quickly with a swing of what looked like a polearm-type weapon. When they could see it again, the two girls saw that it was a 15 to 20 feet tall robot-like being. It had a black colour scheme with glowing green outlines and pieces, illuminating his form and promoting a sense of danger fairly well. In his hand, the saw that he was wielding what looked like a black and green two-handed Axe. The aura that he emitted was sinister and dark, borderline demonic just like the Chords and the Gamindustri Graveyard.

The brunette was the first to regain her composure, quickly stepping in front of Compa who hurried her search through her purse for the Sharicite. "Who the heck, are you?! You better stay outta our way!" she called out, holding her Qatars out defensively. She glared at the enemy with hate, the sinister feeling that it had around it reminded her of the twisted feeling she'd been getting ever since she had come here, and she didn't like it. In addition, if this thing had the same feeling then it was likely responsible for what had happened to her friends suspended in those chords, and that really pissed her off.

Seeing her movements, the robot laughed mockingly, irritating the girl further, "Hahahaha! Finally, some more fools who dared attempt to come here! Three long years… I've been idle for too damn long! It's finally time to destroy!" the robot ranted as it gathered energy into its Axe, ready for a fight. The energy was immense, while the aura around him was saturating the air, laying itself atop the area like a sick blanket.

Biting back her urge to shiver and run from what this thing was doing, the Brunette spoke without looking behind her to her companion, "I'll hold him off Compa, you go and set free our ladies. Be quick though, don't know how long I'll be able to keep him busy." She said, readying herself for a rush. Her arms were at her sides and she was beginning to move like a certain blonde haired knuckle-headed ninja.

"Y-Yessie!"

Compa replied to her companion's words as she ran off to fight off against the robot, the sounds of battle echoing across the area. She had no time to sit and watch what would happen as she had a job to do, and as a Nurse-In-Training (though that may change soon) she would complete her job to the latter! Seconds after her friend had jumped into the battle that was now raging behind her, Compa jogged over to the closest girl she could get to, which happened to be the light lilac haired, white wearing girl she had called 'Ge-Ge'.

Once she stood before the captured and restrained girl, Compa held the Sharicite up to her forehead as best she could, a look of desperation, "come on… please work!" she chanted to herself. Hope was in her heart, hope that everything they did had been worth it, that it wasn't all just a waste. The Sharicite hovered before the girl's forehead as Compa stepped back, giving it some room as she viewed the following spectacle with baited breath.

No words could describe how she felt at the moment, and right now there was no need for them. The Sharicite then began to glow brightly, illuminating the girl with a bluish looking light. Energy seemed to overtake the girl in a bluish-white aura, one that began repelling the Chords that bound her. The Chords resisted, tried desperately to cling on to the girl's flesh, but the intruding foreign energy was stronger and managed to force them off her.

Now free, the girl fell down towards the ground, much to Compa's alarm, "Ge-Ge!" she called out, rushing over and quickly catching her. She placed the girl on the ground with her head on her lap. Slowly, the wounded girl began to stir, her eyes tightening as a light groan came from her lips, the first sound that had come from in a long time. Slowly, her eyes opened, revealing them to be a lighter shade of blue than the purple haired woman still suspended, with a matching power button symbol in them like the other girls. "Hmmmm…. Ugh… huh…"

"Ge-Ge, your awake! I'm so glad to see your alive!" Compa cried out in joy, tears in the corners of her eyes. She'd hoped that their reunion would be under better circumstances, but fate didn't seem to be in a merciful mood today. Slowly she raised the wounded girl into a sitting position, allowing the girl to cough and clear her throat. Having been suspended for as long as she had made her body need to clear itself out so it could function properly. Although her injuries weren't helping matters, and that was something the cream haired girl began to rectify immediately.

Slowly, the pinkette turned her head to face Compa, her eyes glistening for a moment as she tried to recognise her. Her mind was disoriented thanks to having been asleep for so long, but eventually the fog cleared enough for her to realise the true identity of the girl treating her injuries by placing her hands on her back, her hands and the pinkette body illuminated by a bright green light. "C-Compa… I ugh… I…"

The girl tried to speak to her, however she was too weak to, her body not having fully recovered from the sudden wake-up call just yet. It was evident by the lack of energy in her as she almost fell forwards had Compa not placed a hand above her chest in time, the green light still active. "Easy Ge-Ge, I'm still treating your injuries. Let Nurse Compa take good care of you." The cream haired girl exclaimed with a bright smile. Seeing that she had helped her friend out had raised her mood significantly, as well as filled her with both new hope and confidence again.

Once the girl's injuries had been taken care of, Compa stood up, the glow leaving her hands as she turned on her heels, "there, all done! It's all I could do for now, so rest up! I'll have Nep-Nep and the other CPUs out in a jiffy!" she called out, the pinkette nodding as she leaned against a nearby piece of junk. Her body hadn't fully recovered yet, and was still really weak, similar to how one felt when waking up in the morning. Their bodies felt like large weights and refused to move out of the bed to begin the day with a morning routine.

SLASH!

"GYA!"

The cry of the Brunette rang out in the ears of both girls as she fell to the ground near the pinkette, her eyes wide with shock and horror at the sight. The Brunette clearly had seen better days, a lot of her phones had been damaged, with her coat having multiple large tears. A blood trail ran down the side of her head from a particularly nasty cut to her temple. Numerous cuts and bruises littered her body, sort of like a junkyard of scratch marks that were deep enough to draw blood. "IF?!" she cried out in dismay, her body experiencing a rush of adrenaline that made her get up and jog over to the downed girl.

Weakened severely, the brunette known as IF or 'Iffy' as Compa calls her, still tried to look up, smiling slightly at the pinkette as she grimaced. "U-uh hey Gear… Hehehe, now I feel all embarrassed your seeing me in such a sorry state…" she muttered chuckling sheepishly. However, it was short, for her body spiked with pain, forcing her to stop her chuckle and replace it with a grimace. It hurt to laugh at this point, but she couldn't help it. Because of her pride, she felt humiliation for being seen like this by a friend she hadn't seen in so long.

The sounds of disappointed groans reached their ears, drawing their attention to the robot who was waving its Axe about like a raging lunatic. "Aaarrgh! Boring! How boring! Here I was all hyped for a good fight, but this is just pathetic!" it raved, the intense volume of its voice almost making them cover their ears but instead the girls merely cringed.

After several moments, the robot stopped its rant and lowered its weapon, slowly hovering towards them like a predator cornering its prey, "argh, whatever then. I'll just be done with you and-OMPH!"


	2. Chapter 2 - Graveyard Experience

**Chapter 2 - Graveyard experience**

Vent growled to himself, which also sounded like a groan of pain as he had felt something metallic break his descent after being hit by the monster he had been fighting.

The slippery bastard was fast despite its size, and it was just as durable. Because of its long body Vent had to worry about being constricted like a serpent would when hunting for prey, it had happened several times in their fight already. With its long body, it may have the weakness of being slightly easier to hit, but it compensated for how fast it was, which was pretty unexpected since it's size rivalled a double decker bus. And that wasn't all, the creature was able to utilise its flexibility to its fullest in order to slash him with its Tail, one of its most lethal weapons. And there were other weapons it had that made it all the more dangerous.

Sitting up turned out to be a struggle in itself, but he was able to manage. Vent hopped off what he had impacted, his anger making him only focus on what he had to do. He made to run back to where the monster had been last positioned, only to stop when he felt a tremor in the ground. 'It's burrowing?! Shit, I won't be able to follow it at this rate!' he cursed, gritting his teeth in anger while he yelled in its direction. "You get back here, bastard!"

Just before he had taken a step to chase the monster down, Vent noticed his surroundings, blinking several times as where he was slowly registered. Looking around, Vent saw the captured girls, the wounded IF, Compa and the newly released girl. Then, he saw the downed robot, all of them staring at him with stunned expressions mixed with incredulous disbelief.

"… What?"

Titling his head to the side in confusion, Vent had asked this. He was confused, why were they looking at him like he was this rare animal that had popped up when they had least expected it? Didn't really make sense, at least in his mind. It wasn't like he was anything special, at least in his eyes, he was just an ordinary kid with adequate combat training and a multitude of skills that he had mastered to help him survive in the life of a loner living in a house with no friends.

… Okay, that was just sad.

Him speaking up served to break the ice on some of them, but the first one to spread was that humongous metal robot. It had gotten up and yelled out. "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" he waved his Axe about for a few moments and then stabbed it into the ground with a BANG sound, a shockwave erupting from the force of impact. "YOU WILL PAY FOR KNOCKING INTO ME: CFW JUDGE!"

"Huh? WHO THE HELL MAKES A FREAKING MEGAZORD THAT SIZE?!" the moment Vent's eyes laid upon the massive hulking robot, he literally lost his shit. It was freaking HUGE! Like those massive robots in that children's show. His eyes blinked as something clicked in his mind, something that was about the situation. "Huh… wait a sec, the fuck's going on? What exactly am I looking at here?"

His shock had faded into confusion, and while normal people would freak the fuck out when they see giant robots in the middle of a desolate landscape, but Vent didn't. In fact, having seen something much worse than this guy beforehand, made the robot look like a toy in comparison.

And this reaction didn't placate the robot's anger either. "WHY ARE YOU NOT AFTRAID OF ME?! VILIANS SHOULD BE GROVELLING BEFORE ME, BEGGING FOR THEIR PITIFUL LIVES!" he ranted again, flailing his arms like a child on a tantrum. Vent could only sweat drop at this, he didn't know how to react to this situation. If the monster from before was here he didn't doubt he'd flip his lid again, considering how it had made him feel when he first saw it, but this?

Again, he didn't know how to react to this.

Something else drew his gaze away from the massive robot which was the wounded girls. 'Huh? Why do they have those injuries? Oh wait, likely that robot did it, considering their wounds are similar to the Axe that thing wields in shape... oh shit that fucker's going to die…' Vent's eyes narrowed in anger as he glared at the robot, just as it was finishing whatever rant it was doing. Vent didn't know shit about what was going on here, why the girls were injured or why there were more being held in… compromising positions that made him sick to his stomach, but he did know one thing that was clear: That robot was going down.

Turning towards it, Vent readied the weapon that he held in his hand: a three bladed Scythe with each blade made out of triangular metal grey plates and each blade arranged to look like a 3 fingered claw. It had once been his Ring, but when he had pressed the sides of it the ring had transformed into this Scythe weapon. He hadn't noticed right away, but that wasn't the case for long, and while Vent had no idea where this weapon came from, it was his family's heirloom so he would treasure it well.

"Motherfucker! Your ass is grass!" Vent roared a battle roar, rushing in and doing a series of attacks that damaged Judge's lower body. First was a slash to the motion gear he used to move about, the second and third went along the sides of the makeshift 'skirt' and the last six went onto its lower back. Vent finished it all with a diagonal slash to the back, from the left hop to the right shoulder, before he landed behind it. This happened all in a couple seconds.

Needless to say, Judge wasn't pleased as it screamed in pure agony and rage. The robot didn't expect that Scythe to do so much damage to its body, especially since it had amplified its defensive aura at the last second. That action was probably the reason why it had only lessened the damage that he would have likely received from it. With a furious yell, Jude spun around with a wide swing of his Axe, intending to cleave Vent in two.

The male however managed to dodge it by sliding under the swing, hooking his Scythe onto the Axe's shaft with the space between two of the three blades. Using that, he flipped himself into the air, righting himself before he pointed his Scythe to the skies. "Alright, asshole!" he yelled, pressing a piece of the Scythe's shaft above to his hand. The shaft seemed to be filled with red lines spreading from a button he had pressed, but that was only for a few seconds before the entire weapon began to change.

First, the blades realigned at the tip of the shaft, entering a triangular formation, while the top of the shaft to the middle enlarged to the size of a human arms, splitting apart to show fractions. The lower half of the shaft enlarged as well, the grip soon being enveloped by the lower half which rearranged its plate-made shaft to a long cylinder shaped barrel with the grip bending to become a trigger within the weapon itself, making it look like its wielder was holding it. In moments, Vent had a new weapon to wield, and he pointed it towards Judge.

It looked like a cannon mounted onto his hand, but further examination showed that it was actually having its trigger inside the weapon making it look like Vent had the cannon as a part of him, the cylinder shaped barrel consisted of many plates with red fractions between them, ending in a hollow red interior at the end if the barrel. There were 3 scythe blade fingers made out of grey triangular plates around the barrel's tip which acted as an accuracy support system.

All in all, Vent had one badass looking gun.

Bringing it down, Vent aimed the cannon-like gun at the enemy, the interior of the tip glowing brightly. In the next second, several large meteor-like rounds flew from the gun and hit the large robot in the chest, left and right shoulders, causing Judge to stumble backwards. Several more rounds came down at it, and Judge fell onto his back with a mighty crash.

Vent landed before the downed enemy who struggled to get back up. He didn't have any feet so hovering was his alternative, that was what the male assumed as he pointed his Gun at the enemy, "stay down, if you know what's good for you." He stated, but the robot ignored him as he got back to an upright position.

Afterwards, the robot glowered at him, its stare increased in intensity thanks to the hollow green eye lenses it sported, "you… bastard… how dare you make a mockery out of me! Its time I stop holding back and really get to destroy!" it bellowed. Vent didn't think it was serious, though, basing this fact on how Judge had been pretty wild during their short exchange, but apparently he was wrong.

In an instant, Judge's body pulsated with power, before it vanished without a trace. 'what the-where the hell did he go?!' Vent shrieked in his mind, searching around for any sign of the enemy. His instincts suddenly flared up, screaming at him to get the hell out of there but he couldn't react in time. Judge appeared behind him and smacked the male with its Axe, sending Vent flying into a large pile of discarded junk.

CRASH!

The pile fell onto him, causing the male to be very injured from the collision as well as being unable to move. Now that he had defeated the annoying brat Judge looked itself over, and couldn't help but shudder to itself. If it had a human face, then it would have been wincing at the damage the boy had done to it. Its shoulders were sporting dangerous looking cracks, which were attached to ones spreading across its chest.

While the brat had been annoying the damage that had been done to it because of their fight had been extensive, almost to the point where its auto repair systems wouldn't have been able to fix it all themselves. The robot was fortunate enough to have finished the fight when it did otherwise things could have been a lot worse.

"Now… where was I?"

* * *

Despite that boy's best efforts, IF and the others knew that he wouldn't have lasted long against this 'CFW Judge' character, as not only was the robot stronger than him but also more experienced, apparently. The boy had however done some major damage to it though, and that grinded away at the Brunette's pride.

"Ahhhh… at least that brat made for some fun… now then, time to finish what I started bitches!" Judge bellowed, cackling with mad laughter that sent chills down their spines. The robot then raised its Axe to the skies, pouring his sinister energy into it which gave it a green flaring aura, almost making it look like it was alive. There was a screeching sound in the air, almost as if the weapon was crying out in glee, as if it enjoyed the power coursing through it.

The girls all felt fear creep up their spines, rooting them in place. Meanwhile, none of them were as bad as the girl that had just been freed as she was shaking like a leaf, sweat rolling down her forehead as tears of fright fell down again. "Again…it's happening again, I'm useless, only able to watch… no, no-no-no!" she stuttered, her hands reaching towards and clutching her scalp, tuff of hair being visible as she clenched her fists tightly, trying to fight the raging trauma on her mind.

IF gritted her teeth, slowly stumbling to her feet while glaring with defiance on her face, her emotions visible in her clear green eyes that were focused solely on Judge. Her teeth were gnashed together as her fists were clenched so tightly around her Qatars that her knuckles were turning white. "No… I refuse… I refuse to go down like this!" she bellowed, quickly turning towards her friend. "Compa, you get Gear outta here, I'll buy you some time!"

"What?! No way, I won't leave you behind! We'll go back together!"

"This isn't the time! We have to get Gear out of here, she's the one hope we have for Gamindustri's future! I know it hurts, believe me I do, but saving the CPUs isn't possible at this point, just look at the Sharicite!"

After her friend pointed towards the captive CPUs, Compa turned her head to look at what she was pointing at, only to pale as she saw the Sharicite's state. Its light, which had previously been shining brightly, now was barely more like a second layer of skin. It was a sharp contrast before, and when she saw the CPUs themselves, Compa hoped that they were awake and ready to be freed…

Only for the worst to happen in that they didn't even stir.

"No… then is everything… everything we went through for the last 3 years… worthless?"

The trio of girls were losing hope faster than a person falling from a cliff. First their attempts to save their friends had ended in an epic failure, and second they were being cornered by an enemy too powerful for them to fight. At least one of them was willing to fight to the end, but the other two were not so much. One of them hell, was even traumatised, otherwise she would have engaged the enemy as well. But right now, after witnessing the sinister power of the enemy before them, her trauma had reared its ugly head and prevented her from even lifting a finger to help, even when a seemingly random civilian tried to help them.

Judge revelled in their despair, one of the other things it enjoyed besides fighting: the faces of utter hopelessness as people realise just how doomed they were and were unable to prevent it. It was just its nature to enjoy trampling over the 'garbage' that was the weak and the pathetic. As its Axe soon became fully charged, as evident by the bubbly aura formed over the Axe's blade, the robot let out a psychotic giggle, "alright, now to finish you! For our goddess!" it bellowed, bringing the weapon down on the girls.

However just when he was going to finish it: SLAM! "Gurk…!" Judge cringed when something slammed into its side, just below where the ribcage would have been if it were human, with surprising force. It was blindsided by the attack, to the point where it had lost its hovering ability and tumbled to the ground in a heap, sliding across the ground until it halted right before a pile of junk. "Argh…! WHAT THE FUCK, WHO HIT ME…?!"

The cause landed on all fours where Judge once stood with a crash, encasing the cause in smoke. IF, Compa and the pinkette tried to peer into the smoke to see what had helped them, but they need not try for long, for something long and flexible swatted the smoke away in one swing. What they saw though, was something that made their mouths become unhinged from their jaws.

"What the Goodness…?!"

"Is that the…"

"Yeah it is, but what the heck is with those things on him?"

There, standing before them once again was the same boy from before, but this time it was different, his entire demeanour was so. His body was bent downwards, his arms hanging in front of him with one foot on top of a piece of junk that had landed next to him, his head was lowered, but they could still see the sinister snarl that marked his lips. His hair hung over his eyes, shadowing them, but they could still see something that sent chills down their spine: a single red eye on the left side of his face, not like a certain brunette CPU they knew. This one however had an iris and a pupil, veins of a matching red colour spreading across what looked like a black sclera and the left side of his face. His teeth were shown thanks to his expression, making his appearance even more menacing.

Nevertheless, what got their attention the most about him... was what was protruding from the back of his waist: 6 long, red Tentacles, each one covered in black armour plates, swaying from their protrusion point out of the boy's body. They reached waved about in a wriggly, slithering manner while the boy's hands were flexing like they were claws. "You… should not have done that, fucker…" he muttered under his breath, his body shaking like it was just about to go on a murderous blood rage.

And then, he lunged.

* * *

Vent had never felt so much power before. When he had lunged forth, his newly discovered Rinkaku lunged as well, slamming into Judge's stomach to give him the opportunity to get in close. He had thrown his hands to the sides, with his Scythe flying into his waiting right hand while the left was covered by 3 of his 6 Tentacles, each one merging together to form what looked like a Tentacle with a black and red claw attached to a gauntlet. He swung several times when he was close enough, and Judge suffered a series of injuries deep enough to penetrate its armour.

"GAH! I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK YOU ARE, BUT YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" Judge bellowed, striking down with its Axe. Its eyes would have widened if it were human however, when the remaining Tentacles became 2 larger versions of themselves, large enough to block the Axe as it came down on their wielder, then bat it away. "WHAT?!" A cackle came down from the brat before Judge as Vent spun into a reverse swing that left a horizontal gash on Judge's stomach. His Tentacles then speared its shoulder plates, ripping them clean off as his claw unravelled back into his other 3 Tentacles, each one wrapping around its Axe and forcefully prying it from its grasp.

The male laughed like a madman, his sole red eye wide with a shaking iris and a slasher's grin showing his teeth. "chop a tree, chop a tree, chop a tree…" he sang happily, repeatedly slamming the Axe into Judge's body with no indication of stopping. "HAHAHAHAHA! SCREAM, FUCKER! SCREAM OUT A BEAUTIFUL MELODY FOR ME! AHAHAHAHA!" Vent bellowed with a near psychotic laughter, sending more chills down the spines of his observers, and in the state he was in Vent never even realised they were there. All his focus was on his recent prey.

Taking the Axe with him, Vent stepped back a few times to get ready for his final attack. He could tell, even in his current state, that this thing was at the end of his ropes, leaning back on a large junk-pile like a Boxer would after a match in the ring, with gashes all over its body while oily coloured blood ran down those wounds. There was not much life in it left, it would be a miracle for this 'CFW Judge' to survive this.

His attack ready, Vent took a running start before jumping, using his Rinkaku to gain more height while the Axe was being carried in his left hand. At the apex of his jump, Vent tossed it into the waiting grasp of his Tentacles, which wrapped around its shaft to merge together, forming a pair of over muscled, armoured arms with hands made out of black armour. "Like Ryan Reynold's-Sempai once said…" he spoke before falling down towards the robot before him. "MAXIMUM EFFORT!"

At last, Vent came down in a forward roll, curling up into a ball as his Rinkaku slammed the Axe right into Judge's forehead. The robot didn't even have time to scream as he was sliced in two by its own Axe. An instant later, the robot exploded like one of those cartoonish ones. Vent's sole thought before fatigue and weariness pulled him unconscious was:

The fuck?

* * *

Once the boy had fallen unconscious, silence dominated the area as the girls struggled to come to terms with what had happened right before their eyes. What they saw was something that no resident of Gamindustri had seen before: a sole male early on in the story owning a major villain to the point where they all felt sort of sorry for the villain. It was… something that they struggled to get their heads around.

"Um…" Compa began, trying to get her shaking under control. Though it was exceedingly difficult with the images of those Tentacles swaying dangerously, one slight mishap causing them to rip into their prey without mercy, playing in her mind without signs of stopping. "Did what just happen… really happen?"

IF, who didn't look much better than Compa, turned to her friend. "Not gonna lie, that stuff was just freaking scary, even for me. But at least it's done us one favour: its opened a way for us to get outta here." She stated, pointing to the way that they had used to enter this clearing. When the robot had been alive it had been blocking that path from them, keeping them inside this place with no chance of escape. NOW though… "That guy's death must have tripped some alarms, so we should get going before reinforcements show up. You ready Gear, lets… Gear?"

When she received no response from the newly released girl, the brunette turned to address her once more, thinking that she had not heard her, however much to her dismay, the pinkette was sprawled across the ground, unconscious. A curse came from IF's mouth at the sight, "ugh, you have got to be kidding me, c'mon Gear this isn't the time to be unconscious!" IF exclaimed, kneeling down on one leg before repeatedly shaking the girl's shoulders to wake her up, but to no avail.

"Iffy, lets hurry! We can take that guy with us!" her slightly ditzy friend called out. IF raised her head, wondering why she sounded further from her than before. She soon got her answer, and a subsequent heart attack, when she saw Compa kneeling beside the unconscious guy while making to help him up. Was she serious?! Why was she near that guy when the chance of getting skewered was absurdly high?!

A series of groans came from both of them, and these pulled the brunette out of her thoughts for now. She soon realised that Compa had the right idea, they couldn't do anything more here, since the Sharicite was destroyed trying to revive the CPUs. Perhaps it was a bit too ambitious to think that what they did would have been enough, there was barely any faith left in them at all at this point, most of the Shares went to the enemy right now. That must have impacted the Shares they had gathered in some manner.

Also, despite what that boy was like, he did just save their lives even though he had no idea what was going on. She had seen the boy's face, how it contorted with anger when he had seen how the CPUs were being treated. Not many men did that nowadays, so it was a little refreshing to see. Men usually only cared about women's bodies, this applied to the majority of the male population in Gamindustri. It didn't matter to them if the girl was injured or not, if they had a pair of boobs in their faces they wouldn't care about anything else.

But this guy, he didn't have that same mentality, that was what she saw. While it would take some more research into his character, IF found herself willing to repay the favour she and the others owed him. "Alright, we'll take him with us, then. Let's move it, Compa!" she called out to the cream haired girl as IF picked Nepgear up, carrying her fireman style while running towards the exit to this place.

Soon after, Compa followed suit.

* * *

The duo of girls, along with their cargo, managed to get away from the area where the CPUs are, and after a couple hours, they finally stopped to catch their breath. They found themselves within another clearing, this one noticeably bigger than the one they were previously. It is bare though, no signs of any monsters or ASIC goons, which meant that they could take a breather here.

"#PANT#, #PANT#, looks like we gave them the slip this time…" IF muttered, breathing heavily from the long running. She may have been at this longer than most, but her stamina was not limitless. IF glanced to the male perched on a heaving Compa's back, noticing that he was still out like a light. IF was never that trusting around the male gender, as they usually wanted either money, power or a night of pleasure. She was only glad that this one was unconscious right now; they did not need him flipping out as he had done against Judge.

Compa, still in the middle of getting her breath back, managed to get her response out as she managed to deposit their saviour onto the ground beside her. "#HEAVE#, #HEAVE# this guy's a lot heavier than he looks…!" she muttered under her breath. Her words were near silent in terms of volume to the Brunette, who gave her a sympathetic gaze. True while her cargo was not that light either, she could not compare to the boy that Compa had been carrying around this whole time.

Soon though her mind recalled the bigger picture here and IF slumped her, shoulders with a depressed look in her eyes. "Even after all that we have done for 3 Years…" she muttered, glancing longingly at where they just came. Her fists clenched in anger and frustration, which were fighting the despair in her body, mixing in with it to form a terrible sensation within her gut. "The only one we could help was Gear. Not to Mention…"

The cream haired girl nodded in sadness and agreement, she didn't need to hear the end of IF's sentence to know what she was talking about, since both of them had saw it themselves. "The Sharicite wasn't strong enough, and it shattered when it tried to revive the CPUs. There's no way we can help the CPUs without it… even with that guy coming in and soloing that Robot for us."

Remembering that sight made the brunette clench her fists in frustration and anger, "Don't remind me… we couldn't get even one hit of damage on that guy, but then this kid comes in and gets one ahead of us. While I'm glad he was able to help, it really stings my pride…," she admitted, kicking some small pebbles with her foot. No matter how much she tried, IF couldn't get over the fact that a random person, a guy at that, was able to do what she, Compa and Histoire had been trying to do for 3 years.

It was both irritating and maddening for her.

"Well, maybe he's not a bad person, I mean any other guy would have just left us for dead back there, and he just came in to help." Compa suggested, trying to be optimistic. It was within her nature after all, she always thought that things would work out in the end, it was something that she used to keep her going in these troubled times. "Also, isn't it refreshing to know that someone else can help us get Nep-Nep and the others out of this place when the time comes, Iffy?"

As she heard Compa's words, IF rolled her eyes at the first sentence. Leave it to Compa to try to see the good in everything, though she had to admit that in times like these it was rather welcoming. She was the most innocent person she knew, aside from a certain pudding-loving idiot she knew and her sister who they had just rescued. Moreover, when she heard the second sentence IF had to admit that she had a point, whoever this kid was he had some balls to try to help them when other men would have hightailed it out of there. "#SIGH#, I guess you do have a point there, Compa…"

"There is no need to be so hard on yourselves. Saving Nepgear is a very critical accomplishment."

"Bwah!" IF jumped in shock and panic at the sudden intrusion of a third party. Compa had made the sound a startled mouse would make while nearly falling onto her backside while her brunette friend had nearly fallen over, barely stabilising herself by throwing her arms out as she regained her balance. Placing a hand on her chest to calm her rapidly pounding heart, the brunette groaned while pressing a finger on the earpiece in her ear. With an irritated expression, IF spoke with annoyance, "Histoire, don't scare me like that! We just escaped death right now, you know!" she knew Histoire couldn't see it but Compa was nodding fast in agreement.

"I apologise. There was no other place in the conversation where I could have made my presence known. Nonetheless, what you say about this man intrigues me. Not long after you left I felt a strange anomaly occur between the boundaries of the space-time continuum. I believe this boy may have the answers to my questions, therefore would you two please bring him along with Nepgear back to the Planeptune Basilicom?"

An anomaly? That got IF's attention as she arched a brow towards the direction of the unconscious male beside her friend. That told her many things, and also softened the blow to her pride slightly. If he was from that anomaly, perhaps he had fighting skills previously used to fight tough battles in his home. If that was the case, then it would make more sense how he was able to solo a monster like Judge. "Alright, we'll do that Histoire. we'll be back at Planeptune by nightfall." She said, before her hand left the earpiece and she relayed the information to Compa. Afterwards, the two left, Compa carrying Nepgear while IF carried Vent.

It was next to night time when the two returned to Planeptune, their home and the land of Purple Progress. Both of them had their own vehicles for transport: IF had her bike, while Compa had an old fashioned looking car. Planeptune was a large city, filled with futuristic looking buildings with white and purple designs, just like the attire of a certain pudding-loving idiot CPU they knew. The Basilicom was at the very centre of the city, taller than any building around which gave it the advantage of looking over it, as if it were protecting Planeptune from outside interference.

Which only made sense considering…

When they arrived at the entrance, Compa and IF parked their respective vehicles where they could, before heading inside. They went to the main hall, where they saw a figure waiting for them, which IF greeted with a small, weary smile, "hello Histoire, we're back." She said this while readjusting the weight she was carrying. Compa beamed at the figure known as Histoire, who smiled back at them.

"Welcome back you two. I'm glad to see you two have returned safely."

The figure known as Histoire was a… peculiar individual. She was the height of a Pencil that had yet to be used, with a womanly body. She sat atop a large book that had purple and gold as its main colours, while floating behind her were a pair of blue fairy wings. She had blonde hair that had bangs that curled in both directions, with two, longer curled pieces of hair that reached her chest. The rest of her hair was worn up in pigtails held by a white cap with blue ear pieces. Her attire consisted of a light purple dress ending at her thighs with white frills a blue and white tie and white cuffs. She was also wearing long white stockings and matching shoes.

Though despite this, it was wise not to underestimate her capabilities. Several had done that in the past, CPUs included, and they faced the consequences. IF's smile turned bitter as she remembered that they failed mostly in their mission, "yeah, though I wish we came back with Nep and the others, too…" she said, looking down while clenching her fists, irritation and frustration roaring within her like a lion declaring an area its territory.

Histoire looked down in sadness, also sharing the brunette's sentiment. "I agree, that would have been ideal, however that is currently not the case." She said, before gesturing to the elevator at the back of the main hall. "Please, place Nepgear in her old room Compa, so when she wakes up she's in a familiar setting. It will ease her nerves after being in such horrible conditions for 3 years straight."

Compa nodded in acknowledgement, saluting Histoire like a soldier, "alrightie, leave it to me!" she proclaimed energetically, though they could booth tell that it was leftover adrenaline that fuelled her right now. It was only natural, with what she had seen and all the excitement, Compa had to have some leftover adrenaline pumping through her system, which kept her exhaustion at bay.

Anticipating how much time Compa had left before the adrenaline rush left her, Histoire gave a motherly smile, "thank you, Compa. Make sure you use one of the guest rooms on the lower floors to get some rest. You deserve it after this ordeal, you too IF." She told them both.

Said girls nodded, and they both dragged their heavy bones, along with their 'cargo' into the elevator. A series of lights lit up as the elevator ran up its chute to the floors above the main hall, which was on the ground floor. Once they were gone, Histoire let her expressions shift, her mature face becoming wrought with concern as she eyed the elevator with longing. It was like seeing somebody with 2 faces, one was happy and the other was worried. "It is as SHE said, the boy has returned, though it's likely he doesn't know it. This world, which is full of more females and what males we do have are genuine perverts… I hope that he will get along with the others."

"You shouldn't worry too much, Histoire."

A new voice spoke to Histoire, though instead of it coming from an outside source, it felt like the person speaking was doing so from within her mind. Histoire was temporarily surprised by this, but soon regained her composure. Histoire knew this person, she knew this person all too well, "I hope so, I really do, old friend. Even though THAT time is passed, there is still one remnant of it, and that is that boy. He who should not have existed, was brought about in a world where the rules of Gamindustri don't apply. Now that he has returned, a storm of change will overcome Gamindustri, changing it forever. For better or worse is yet to be seen however."

"You worry too much, like with the CPUs." The voice stated, as if it had this conversation many times in the past. It had a slight tinge of annoyance, but it was drowned out by the sympathy and concern filling it at the guilty complex that Histoire had developed. Though, the person couldn't blame her really, she was attached to all CPUs, seeing them as either siblings or daughters, and the Planeptune CPUs of the current era were of the latter category. "I have felt his aura, and it is just what I expected. His power, as I hypothesised when I first discovered the existence of the boy, was wild, like a beast waiting to be unleashed from its shackles. Yet it knows that he is its master, its true wielder. It will obey nobody but him, everyone else it sees as minor obstacles. Once it awakens, we will see the birth of one of our strongest trump cards against ASIC."

* * *

Meanwhile, back at Gamindustri Graveyard…

"What?! Why will our Goddess not bring back Judge?!"

"I cannot be certain, but from what I learned from our Goddess, she is unable to bring him back for some time yet, something to do with how he was defeated."

"It seems that whoever beat him must have damaged him so thoroughly that his soul fragment would need time within the embrace of the Deity of Sin to recover its strength before returning to the physical plane of existence."

3 figures floated over the ruined junk pile that was the HQ of the organisation of ASIC. Their facilities were built underground as a means to be closer to their Goddess, and as a way to protect themselves from all the 'test subjects' moving about on the surface. However, that was for the normal members of their organisation, the three remaining leaders of ASIC had no fear of the monsters below. They had power beyond them, so they knew they would be able to take them down easily should they be foolhardy enough to rebel against their makers.

Unfortunately, none of them could be seen as they were floating inside one of the clouds in the skies.

One of them, which looked like an obese form, grunted in dissatisfaction, "ugh, Judge was always the most intolerable, with all his childish ranting. I'm glad he's gone! Now it's one step closer to all those cutie pie little girls out there… #drool#, #drool#, #slurp#." It remarked, snorting at the mention of their fallen brethren only to make perverse drooling and slurping sounds at the end.

The other two figures showed little reaction to this, although that was probably because their forms were shrouded in darkness thanks to the cloud. Second to speak was a figure with a shape like that of Judge, with several differences. "It matters not, it is our duty to uphold the agreement we made with our Goddess, to overturn this world and usher in a new era, an era led by us." It said, looking at the first figure while making a motion alike to shaking its head.

"Indeed, although some of my spies were there at the battle, and they were surprisingly informative about who did this. It appears that SHE had an offspring after all, a male at that." The last figure, which had a noticeably feminine form and voice, spoke to them, a hand on her chin. The way she was now, the feminine figure looked like she was deep in thought about something, "although I am curious about those 'extras' he has…"

Her words made the other two stiffen, and the first one made a show of what it thought of that, "y-you serious?! If SHE has had an offspring, then that means we have another powerful player on the board! A complete wildcard! We have to do something before he destroys all that we've accomplished!"

Hearing this, the feminine figure raised a hand in a placating manner, "at ease, Trick. From what I was told he seems to be unaware of his origins, or the truth of what he is. We shall use that to our advantage when the time is right. For now, let us focus on the tasks at hand, the monsters are almost ready for deployment. We need them at full power, understood?"

Both figures felt the energy rolling off her at the end, combined with the stern yet threatening tone she used. It made them both sweat bullets, fear and respect within them as they saluted her, "yes, Lady Magic!"


	3. Chapter 3 - Explanations and Recruitment

**Hey guys, chap 3 right here! Chap 4 may be coming soon, i'm not sure yet. But rest assured, i'll finish both my stories for you all. Also, you may notice some similarities between Nico and Vent. That's because One Eyed G Rebirth was a fic that was inspired by this one. It gives potential, potential for these two to meet up, wouldn't you think? The Multiverse theory does exist after all...**

 **Anyways, lets go!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3 - Explanations and recruitment**

Darkness, that was all that Vent could see right now. He floated within an endless void, seeing nothing, feeling nothing but his own body, which was also glowing with a faint red outline like fluorescent paint. He didn't know why that was, but with the constant questions he had, plus the things Vent had seen, it didn't seem so major to him so he just didn't query about it. Not like anyone would answer him in this void anyways, since the void was literally 'void' of all life, save for him.

… bad pun, he knew.

The last thing he could remember was fighting that robot called CFW judge… the CFW part was a big source of interest for the male teen, as for some reason just thinking of the name sent an unfamiliar hot rage through his system like a jolt being released from a Defibrillator in one of those fancy hospitals. He didn't understand why, but one thing was for certain, the unleashing of his apparent 'Kagune' (by the gods he was going to fan boy over that later) was like sweet-sweet revenge on the asshole. Just remembering the sensation of slamming his Rinkaku into that bastard made a face-splitting grin form on his face.

That felt goddamn awesome.

Then there was the sight of how those girls were being held, suspended in positions only those who were into bondage would find appealing. To him, though, it was one of the most disgusting things he'd ever seen, and that was saying a lot. By day, he was an Otaku who heavily worshipped Tokyo Ghoul to the point of being nearly a weeaboo, but by night he was something else all-together. The fact that he couldn't save them back there was a major blow to his pride and honour.

Just thinking about it nearly sent him on an uncontrollable blood rage, though Vent tried to suppress it. Vent NEVER liked people who treated females or even people in general like that. The fact that he had seen so many like that made him become a bit too jaded in the ways of the world. Those girls… he never felt so furious in his life, and he had seen a lot of bad people! Criminals, psychopaths, assholes who want to see the world burn… and yet seeing those girls like that drove him over the edge.

It was at this moment, that Vent made a solemn promise to himself: to save those girls no matter what.

 **"** **Hehehehe…"**

Eyes widened as a dark, distorted voice suddenly laughed, breaking the silence of the void. That laugh was not a nice one, it sent chills of fear up his spine faster than a kangaroo on steroids. He didn't like that laugh, and yet, for some reason, Vent didn't feel very threatened by it. Instead it felt familiar to him somehow, almost like he'd heard it before.

Shaking his head, Vent decided to yell out into the void, "whose there?! Show yourself!" what he didn't realise was that his left eye had transformed into the form of a Ghoulish Kakugan, veins spreading across the sides of his face. Hell, he didn't even realise that his Rinkaku Kagune was just seconds away from being released in response to the male's emotions.

Then, the voice laughed again, **"hehehehehe… ahhhh, perfect, just perfect! It seems that my master has two sides to him, the one who is a hard-core otaku, and the other something much more… DELICIOUS!"** the voice screamed in joy at the end. No, it didn't sound like joy in the usual sense of the word, it felt more like a twisted, demonic version with the tone and volume the voice used for its sentence.

And that was when the whole void lit up, exploding into a fiery inferno. Vent gasped as he felt like all the oxygen in the world was ripped away from him, forcing him to cross his arms over his chest while gasping, heaving as he bent his body forwards. There was also a tremendous weight suddenly forcing itself onto his chest from the inside, what it was he didn't know, but it was uncomfortable and hurt like a bitch.

 **"** **Alas, it is not time yet for me to reveal myself master, but know this. You're going to be feeling PRETTY GRAND when the TRUE MONSTER's return is upon us! Hahahaha AHAHAHAHA!"**

* * *

"ARGH!"

A scream tore free from his throat as Vent gasped, quickly sitting up from the experience. He panted and wheezed heavily, his eyes wider than saucers while his body sweated profusely, heavy breathing sounds filling up the space that he was in. What the hell kind of dream was that? Moreover, why the hell did it feel so… real? Those flames actually felt hot while that voice… he had never felt anything so intimidating in all his life. And he had been one of THOSE other than an Otaku!

Looking around, Vent decided to do something else with his thoughts so that he didn't have to recall that freaky dream, at least for the moment until he calmed down some. Apparently, Vent was in some sort of guest room, as he was sitting in a bed with white sheets and purple covers, dark purple to be more precise. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all a light purple colour, with various paintings and pictures on the walls of different scenery. In one of the corners there was a TV on a stand while in the stand he could see some form of console, combined with a controller and some games. There was a window to the left, beside the bed, which showed a view of the outside.

The window was open, allowing a small breeze to enter the room. When Vent felt it, he shivered slightly and looked down, finding that he was half-naked as he could barely see his lower body covered in his jeans. This surprised him, as he recalled being fully clothed when he had been knocked unconscious. 'Huh, someone must have undressed me… I hope they have a good-' he began to think in a dark manner until he looked at his chest, to see a series of bandages around his stomach and more diagonally strapped across his chest. His thoughts turned to a lighter note as a possibility hit him, 'whoever it was probably was a nurse of some kind, since I have these bandages on me… though if I somehow have Ghoul powers, then does that include…?'

Slowly, Vent removed some of the bandages, enough to expose some of the flesh underneath. As he thought, there was no injury present, which could have impaired him previously. Removing all the bandages, Vent saw that his body was completely free of injury, something that was a blessing in his eyes. 'Aw yeah, this is awesome!' he cheered in his mind, 'I have Ghoul powers, I'm a freaking One-Eyed Ghoul!' he exclaimed in his mind, mentally doing a happy dance.

His most treasured wish had come through somehow! He was half Ghoul!

But then, a few seconds after this revelation did the scope of what he was hit him like a ton of bricks, his eyes becoming saucers once again, like before. 'Oh no… if I'm half Ghoul, then does that mean I can't eat human foods anymore? Do I have to eat flesh for the rest of my life?' Vent wondered, shaking like a leaf at the thought. The male didn't want to have to eat people, especially the good few, that would make him worse than the people he handed to the police! At least there were the scum of the earth to think about, he could find out where the criminals were and go snack on them if that was the case.

… Oh gods, he was having a monologue about cannibalism like it was a walk in the park.

Well, considering his life so far…

'No, don't go there.' Shivering to himself, Vent pushed those thoughts to the shadows of his mind. He could think on that stuff later, right now he needed to find his clothes. This didn't take long though, because they were neatly arranged on a small table beside his bed. His Gloves were on the side of his main clothing, as was his Ring, so he put them on first. His jacket was below his shirt, so he reached forth and grabbed the latter before putting it on. After making sure he had put it on right, Vent grabbed his jacket and slid his arms into the Sleeves, smirking to himself as he felt the familiar material fit onto his person.

Now that he was mostly dressed save for his sneakers, Vent threw the covers off him and slid his legs off the bed. His sneakers were located beside the bed which was a convenience for him as he slipped his feet into them and stood up from the bed. The male groaned as he stretched his arms towards the ceiling, hearing the sounds of bones cracking a little which made him groan slightly more. 'Feels good to be back in uniform…' he thought to himself.

The male then looked to the bed he had been occupying not seconds earlier, a thoughtful expression on his face. Whoever brought him here had gone to such lengths to take care of him, so perhaps he could return the favour a little by making the bed nice and presentable. Living on his own had taught him how to do household chores after all, so this would be a cinch. 'Heh, if it were those girls I saw in that junkyard that helped me, more incentive…' he thought offhandedly, before rolling up the sleeves of his Jacket to get to work.

* * *

By the time 5 minutes had passed, Vent had neatly made his bed, leaving no indication that he had even used it at all. It looked perfect for the next person to use it. He'd swapped the covers out for a fresh pair he'd found in a plastic compartment under the bed and placed the old ones in a basket that he'd found, ready to be delivered to wherever they went to be washed.

'Ahhhh, nothing like seeing a hard piece of work pay off…' the male thought, a satisfied smile on his face as he observed his handiwork. Doing this also helped calm him down from his recent dream, too, so that was a bonus. Now that he was calm and collected again, Vent found himself thinking about what to do next.

The first thing that registered in his mind was to rescue those girls back at that hellhole, but immediately he stomped on that plan since there were many factors to consider, factors that he couldn't say he covered just yet. For example, he didn't know where that place was, or how to get there. Second, he had no idea if he even COULD save them, those chords obviously weren't natural Vent could tell that the instant he saw them, there had to be a special item or something that was needed to break them.

Perhaps he could ask one of those two girls about that…

'Well, first I'd have to find them first, or even someone else who won't attack me the second I try to talk to them.' The brown haired teen mused before he heard the sound of a door being opened. He looked to the direction of the sound and saw one of the girls he was thinking about, not in that way for any perverted readers reading this, enter the room. It was that cream haired girl actually, carrying a medical kit under her right armpit with her left hand on the doorknob.

The girl quickly noticed that he was awake, her eyes widening in surprise at the sight, "oh! Your awake, already!" she exclaimed, but soon got over it as she formed a face of happiness, closing the door behind her and placing the kit on a small table beside the door. That done, she turned to face him, with the male fully facing her after turning his body in that direction, "that's amazing, my examination of your body said you'd be out for at least a few days, but in 1? That's cool." She complimented his healing ability.

'Fast healing? Likely an after-effect of my Ghoul side…' Vent thought to himself while placing a small smile on his lips. "Heh, well what can I say? It's a gift." He mused, and wasn't that the truth? It was the best goddamn gift he'd ever received, even though he had no idea how he got it. Though he did have a few things to investigate about this, such as his situation revolving human food and a possible… secondary source of nourishment should criminals be scarce. "Anyways, Mrs, from what you said I can assume you were the one who brought me here?"

"Yessie, me and Iffy brought you back to the Basilicom after we fled the Gamindustri Graveyard. Thanks though for the assist back there it was really bad down there." She thanked him, bowing her head in gratitude to him. "We would have met a really bad end if you hadn't distracted that guy for us."

A surge of embarrassment welled inside of Vent as he chuckled nervously, rubbing he back of his head awkwardly. This was a rare moment for him, to be thanked for something he had done for the sake of others. Usually in his… night job, he would leave before anyone knew he was around; keep himself a secret from people. So, to be thanked for something like that made him feel a little embarrassed.

Nevertheless, he had some things to do, and one of his sources of info was right in front of him. "It was nothing really. Anyways, the name's Vent, nice to meet you. Thanks again for helping me when you didn't have to." He spoke with a small lowering of his head, his eyes closed and his hands at his sides. It was always important to make a good impression, except for the criminals and scum of the earth, or wherever this place was. If it wasn't earth… the rule still applied, but just whatever this place was.

In response, the girl bowed back to him as a show of appreciation for his gesture. "it's really nice to meet you, Vent… um, can I call you Ven-Ven? It's easier to remember people if I give them nicknames." She asked him, standing straight as she started the conversation off confident, but then turned a little nervous and shy as she fumbled with her fingers. If Vent was anyone else, he would have commented on how adorable that looked on her.

Instead, Vent gave a small soft smile as he replied with, "alright, you can call me that. I guess you have trouble with pronouncing certain names." He figured while inside his mind, he mentally added, 'even though 'Vent' isn't that hard to pronounce.' The male didn't comment on that bit because he didn't want to offend his saviour, literally. While it may seem easy for him to think that, it would likely be a different story for her.

"Thanks! Oh, where's my manners? My name is Compa. Um, can I ask you a question? Why were you at the Gamindustri Graveyard? It's not exactly the best vacation spot." She asked him, tilting her head to express her confusion. "Normal civilians would never even go there unless they were part of ASIC. And you don't seem like someone like that."

Several things registered in Vent's mind as he heard that, things that sent the gears in his head into overdrive. First of all, the Basilicom and the Gamindustri Graveyard, the former seemed to be the name of a place, likely the building he was in based from the way 'Compa' had described it, while the Gamindustri Graveyard likely was that place he had woken up in before. The Basilicom was either a government place due to the lavish guest rooms he's seen, a 5-star hotel, or a hospital, and he was willing to bet it was the first one. The reason for that was because of the view outside, it was a really wide view and it overlooked the majority of the city outside, he'd see this while doing the bed. Since hospitals or hotels wouldn't have such a magnificent view, it only left one option.

Then, there was this 'ASIC', which sounded like a group of some sort. The moment he had heard that word, likely an Acronym for a larger name, Vent had felt a massive flame of rage roar within him, like the very existence of the name just offended him beyond all reason. Fortunately, Vent was able to quell the rage like a bucket of water being poured on a house fire. It also sounded like it had caused some form of mischief or negativity for the way that Compa had described it with such a negative expression and a concern/disgust/fear-filled tone of voice. These hints indicated that they were likely the ones responsible for those girls being held in that Gamindustri Graveyard.

"ASIC? What the heck is that? And this Gamindustri Graveyard place, was that the place that I woke up in? last thing I remember was trying to solve a fault on my TV in my house, then I fall unconscious and next thing I know, I'm in that little paradise." He ended the last part of his sentence on a sarcastic note, there was NO WAY he would consider that place anything remotely nice, least of all a paradise. Especially with those girls being trapped there.

One could say that even if it had some form of beauty, the moment he had seen that all form of beauty would go flying out the window, never to return.

"Eh? You don't know about ASIC? Arfoire Syndicate about International Crime?" Compa asked, her eyes widening in shock at his response. Her hands, which had been clasped together doing some form of shifting, froze at the mention of the full name of ASIC. Judging by her expression, Vent deduced that this was knowledge that she expected to be commoner level, which indicated that either he had amnesia and had faulty memory, something he didn't believe in the slightest, or he was in some far off land. There was the possibility of dimensional travel, but it was rather slim, who ever heard of such travel via a TV screen? Wouldn't it be more likely in the form of a portal like in so many other fanfics?

'Unintentional fourth wall breaking aside, this knowledge being expected to be well known to the populace worries me. If it's so, then how bad were these guys? How far did their reach spread, and why didn't anyone do anything about them before things got so bad? I have a LOT of questions, but something tells me that Compa here doesn't have all the answers.' Vent thought, looking the girl over. From what he could tell from her posture and what mannerisms he'd observed from her, Vet deduced that this girl was likely the naieve, innocent klutz type of girl, hardly fitting material for an interrogation. The fact that she can't remember people by name or pronounce certain multi-syllable words was another indicator. "Um, no, is there a way I can find out? I have so many questions I don't know where to start."

Images of that brunette flashed through his mind, but he pushed them back almost the second after they appeared. Vent knew that he wouldn't be able to ask her for help, he hardly knew anything about her, where she was or if she was trustworthy. True she did help him with Compa, but he hadn't officially met her or that purplette yet so he couldn't get an idea on her personality yet, so he would reserve that idea for later. He recalled Compa mentioning an 'Iffy' which made Vent deduce through process of elimination that the brunette was nicknamed as such. After all, the purplette was nicknamed 'Ge-Ge' and there was nobody else but the Brunette.

Vent also wanted to know what happened to the purplette that they had apparently saved from the Gamindustri Graveyard. Was she okay? Did she get the proper medical treatment? If so, did they count her mental state with it? Being treated so horribly for even a minimal length of time can negatively affect a person in a very damaging way. Self-confidence issues, depression, even thoughts of suicide were some of the effects he had seen during his… night job.

Compa raised a hand and clicked a pair of fingers after a moment of thinking, "oh! I know someone we can talk to, Histy's the Oracle around Planeptune so she can fill you in on whatever questions you may have. Let's go see her, I was told to bring you to her anyway when you woke, so its kicking 2 buckets with one foot." She said, returning to her cheerful demeanour and turning on her heel. She was headed for the door, so Vent decided to follow her to whoever 'Histy' was. Likely another nickname. 'Also, I think the expression was 'killing 2 birds with one stone…'

* * *

Walking along the plain looking corridors, Compa and Vent proceeded to head towards the elevator at the end, intending to go to the floor that the former told the latter that Histoire was on. Apparently that was her real name and, like Vent had assumed, Compa called her Histy as a nickname. While they were walking, Vent weighed the questions he felt that Compa COULD answer so he wasn't going completely blind. There was a lot of calculations, pros and cons, as well as different scenarios going through his mind like a collection of movies playing out all at once, though he was used to it.

For as long as he could remember, Vent had been a unique case: one such piece of him was that his mind was very calculative, always weighing pros and cons to certain situations, envisioning he picture to his minds' eye as well as picking apart the truth of what people were saying even if the issue was being dodged. It helped him ascertain the personalities of others, but it also alienated him from society. Nobody likes having their personalities being picked apart like it was simply a puzzle to solve. Vent didn't have much problem with it however, he was used to being a loner and not amongst people, so he was able to practice and hone this skill by picking apart the personalities of certain individuals by analysing them thoroughly, down to the tiniest tick.

Very little escapes his notice. One could say he had the eyes of a hawk.

Eventually, he found a question suitable for the girl beside him based off observations and mannerisms, "hey, Compa… what happened to that purplette back in the Graveyard? From what I could ascertain, you were trying to rescue those girls, but something went wrong which forced you to abort the mission." He asked her, having flashbacks to that moment. While he had been knocked aside, his enhanced senses, which he had only realised he had at that moment allowed him to overhear their conversation, even though the rubble made their conversation a bit harder to decipher. But from what he could tell, the male figured that those two were there to save those girls, but could only save one: The Purplette.

Turning to look at him, Compa made a complicated expression, she looked like she was having trouble forming the right words with how her mouth opened and closed without getting a single word out. Her form shook slightly while she walked, and her pupils were slightly shaking, focusing on multiple sites in an attempt to remain calm. There was a slight sign of sweat too, which added to the suspense.

The male was worried that something bad had happened to her, and was about to apologise, but then she spoke with a nervous tone while taking a shaky breath. That was not a good sign. "Ge-Ge's okay, she's in her room right now, but she's in a comatose state. The shock and pain she must have endured for the last 3 years in that place must have been taxing on her. Everyone's keeping quiet about it for now until she wakes up, but we don't know when that'll be." She explained, looking down sadly. The frustration and sadness was clear as day to him as evident by her eyes.

But the new knowledge that he had gleaned about the purplette had made all colour drain from his face, "T-THREE YEARS?!" he shrieked, making the girl give a startled yelp as she almost jumped from his sudden shout. "You mean to tell me that, those girls, were held in that hellhole for 3 whole fucking years, with no treatment, and in those despicable conditions?!" Vent yelled, his eyes blazing with untold fury. He was livid, no, no emotion could possibly ever come close to describing how furious he was with the perpetrators of that horrific act. If he met them again nothing would stop Vent from ripping them a new one, what he had just heard was one of the things that pissed him off the most.

Still scared by his sudden outburst, Compa shakily nodded her head. "Y-Yes, that's right. W-we tried to rescue them several times, but the monsters kept getting in the way. T-This was our latest attempt, as things had gotten so bad we couldn't send in any regimens from the military anymore. I-It was meant to be an all or nothing attempt, and while it didn't succeed, it wasn't a failure either." She explained, fearful of the rage that Vent was showing.

The male's rage didn't abide one bit at those words, in fact it increased. "That's completely bull! Next time I get there; I'll rip those bastards a whole fucking new one for doing that! Scum like them don't deserve to live…" at first he had been shouting, but his volume had lowered significantly into a quieter version with growls and snarls like an animal, even his left eye had activated its Kakugan form which only added to the intimidating visage.

Before he could step any further into that rage, Vent's eyes widened when he realized that he had scared Compa, and hurriedly reined in his emotions. They were still steaming when he had completed this task as he turned to Compa with an apologetic expression on his face. He scratched his cheek while not looking into her eyes, he doubted he'd be able to with the surge of guilt from scaring her rising in his chest. "I-I'm sorry about that, Compa… just lost it when I heard that… hell, it's hard for me to remain idle when those girls are still being held there." he stuttered like she did before.

Heh, full circle, that was.

Seeing his face, Compa felt her nerves settle. Although she was still rattled by the fierce rage she had seen, it was easily understandable that he would be angry. It was actually a refreshing sight, to see a guy have the same feelings as she and her friend did when they first saw the girls in such a state. With her lips curving upwards, Compa assured him it was alright, "I understand, Ven-Ven. They're friends of mine, so your rage is completely justified. There's no way I wouldn't help them after seeing them like that for so long."

The rest of the walk to the elevator and the ride down the floors was silent.

* * *

When the two went in the elevator, Vent noticed that it was coloured a dark purple with light blue outlines. The buttons were blue with a white console to operate them, with black writing beside them indicating which floor each button would lead them. Compa was the one who pressed the button one away from the bottom, which was the floor that Histoire would be on.

Both were lost in their own thoughts, and while Compa was humming to herself while swaying from side to side, Vent's mind was, for the lack of a better term, chaotic. He just couldn't believe it, the situation was likely worse than he had initially speculated, just from the little bit of info alone. The fact this had been going on for 3 years, three whole years with no changes for the better, had hit him hard. Worse was that lives were lost trying to get those girls out of that nightmare, lives lost to monsters like that Centipede monstrosity. He hadn't told anyone yet of that horror though, Vent had a personal grudge against that thing, for impersonating a horrible trait from one of his favourite manga characters, someone who reflected a lot of himself.

Worse was the purplette: Nepgear Compa had called her, or as she nicknamed her: Ge-Ge.

From what he had learned from the cream haired girl, this one was likely to be heavily traumatized from the experience she had there in that hellhole, to have left her comatose. When she woke up, Vent wouldn't be surprised if she had severe mental issues to deal with, issues that most would ignore for the sake of saving this land from ASIC. That though will only backfire since her trauma will surface whenever she is needed the most, unless someone is there to help her through that. Psychological damage however, was much harder to fix than physical, and could only be healed via exposure to familiar settings, being surrounded by close friends and a joyful atmosphere. The last one may be a near-impossibility with the trials ahead. The male he didn't notice Compa's glances at him.

It couldn't come soon enough, he decided, when the elevator's bell rung signalling that they had arrived at the floor they wanted. The light blue coloured doors opened sideways, allowing them to step out into another corridor lined with doors. They walked through the corridor for about 5 minutes, until they reached one that was different from the others. Whereas the others were light blue coloured with dark purple frames, this door was the exact opposite in colour scheme and had a label on it: Meeting room. This was where Histoire was.

'Alright, the answers are on the other side…' Vent thought to himself as Compa reached out to knock on the door. He swallowed some of his saliva, nervousness creeping up on him as fears of not making a good enough impression surfaced. However, Vent crushed them with a clench of his fists, that would not do, not now. He needed to be strong right now, not just for himself, but so that he wouldn't be seen as a weak loser.

"Histy, I've brought our helper! He's awake earlier than expected!"

"That is most fortunate, Compa. Please, bring him inside."

With permission granted, Compa cheerily opened the door to the meeting room, stepping inside with Vent following suit. He was surprised to hear the voice of Histoire being so… melodious, motherly and youngish. The male had been anticipating a rough old battle-hardened commander or at least a military general, but this wasn't it at all. His expectations had been swept completely under the water.

The room itself looked really nice. It followed the colour scheme of purple and blue it seemed, with the walls being a light purple, almost pink, with blue patterns on them. Portraits hung on blue nails, each one being of the purplette and a younger looking version of her, although appearances could be deceiving. The floor was a matching colour, with a dark purple carpet that covered most of it. There was a brown table at the centre aligned vertically, facing the back of the meeting room with a series of 2 seat sofas on the left, side and front. These sofas were a dark purple with blue cushions on the corners between their back cushions and armrests.

His eyes were locked on the little girl sitting on top of a book though, bewilderment clear in them as he lightly gasped, feeling his breath hitch. Will there be more surprises awaiting him in the future? Well, that would be most likely given the direction he felt more and more inclined to take each second, through each piece of info he gleaned. The little girl, or should he say woman in this monologue since she had the frame of one just the size of a pencil, was drinking tea from a cup in a classy manner. It just screamed 'I'm an important person!' to him.

This image was gone when she looked up at them, having paused her drink to see who it was that had come in. The moment she saw him, something seemed to flicker in her eyes that Vent noticed: shock, joy, sadness, despair and guilt, it was one of those but it vanished the second it appeared, and during that time Histoire had looked him over, as well. None of this had been seen by Compa though… Or the other person in the room.

"Looks like sleeping beauty #1 is awake." A tomboyish voice called out, breaking Vet from his thoughts. While tomboyish, the voice also had a hint off femininity which likely wasn't shown to most people. It reminded him of a female soldier who had been in many battles and had come out on top from them. Glancing to the speaker, Vent found that it was the same brunette from before, leaning against a wall next to a portrait of the smaller version of Nepgear. She had one leg on the wall while the other was straight as she leaned in a diagonal angle, her arms crossed as she gave him a criticising stare.

Vent did the same, the two entering an intense stare down with nothing else registering but them, like nothing else existed to them, a world that only they lived in. to Vent he was staring at someone who was skilled on the battlefield, taking no-nonsense from her comrades. She seemed like someone who would fit as a Military general, with her aura and tomboyish mannerisms. Also, she seemed to be well informed, with all those phones that were around that belt of hers, so it was likely she had high recon skills. 'HMMMM… this one…

Meanwhile, the girl was doing the same to him as he was doing to her in her mind, 'this guy… he doesn't look like much, but if I hadn't seen it myself I'd think he was just a pushover. He doesn't have any weapons on him right now, but those Tentacles could be all he needs to take down enemies by catching them off guard. Although, if that was his only trick then he'd not last very long. And yet, no matter how much I try to deny it, he does have some combat skills that he showed when wielding that Scythe… Hmmmm… this one…'

Finally, Histoire grew weary of the two's staring contest, and decided to clear her throat. This brought them out of their staring match and made them turn their gazes to her, one in curiosity while the other had a stern, serious visage. "Now that you two have adequately judged each other, let's get down to business." The small woman began as her book floated over to him, stopping when her eyes were level with his and they were at conversing distance. "It's a pleasure to meet you, young man. I am Histories, Oracle of Planeptune. I believe you have some questions that need to be answered, yes? Please, take a seat." She introduced, gesturing to the sofas.

With a nod, Vent spoke a quick thank you before walking to one of the sofas, one that was closest to the brunette though he made sure not to mind her. He would talk to her once he had his questions answered, "Well, first I should introduce myself since you did so earlier, I'm Vent, a pleasure to meet you Mrs Histoire." He introduced himself in turn while lowering his head in a bowing gesture. "Thanks for agreeing to answer some questions I have, while I have many I'll stick to the main ones, the others I can find answers to on my own."

"Very well. I believe your first question is 'where am I?' yes?" she asked with a smile, one which widened when she saw his eyes widen in surprise at her apparent accurate guess, "it is only natural for one such as yourself to be curious. I detected an anomaly within the space-time continuum when IF and Compa went to the Graveyard, then they found you there. It's not hard to deduce that you're not of our world."

'Looks like, as unlikely as it was before, that the dimensional travel option is the right one.' He thought to himself, regaining his composure from how Histoire had thrown him off guard earlier. Once that was done, Vent stared with a serious, stern expression similar to the brunette, which he guessed that was IF. "I see… well, that's not really important to me right now. What I care about is, what the hell is this world, and what was up with that place?"

While she was momentarily surprised that Vent was not that caring about being in another world, as were Compa and, although she made sure to hide it, IF, Histoire noticed a glint in his eyes, a glint she had not seen in a long time. 'Ahhhh… it is almost like looking at a male version of her… the more I learn about him, the more I feel that we made the right choice.' Histoire thought to herself, smiling gratefully to herself, as she spoke, "Yes that is indeed what we must discuss. First of all, you're in the world of Gamindustri…" she told him about the world they were in, how it was governed by the four nations Planeptune, Lastation, Lowee and Leanbox, the four CPUs, and the general history of Gamindustri. Sometimes, Compa and IF, the brunette, chipped in and filled him in on some topics.

Vent took this all in, looking down while immersing himself in his thoughts, 'So… this world is a gaming-based one ruled by four women who can transform into more powerful forms… I vaguely remember some of the otaku nerds at some convention I went to talking about something similar… oh well, it's not important. This world does seem a lot more… cheerful, than compared to my world, and with the fact that most guys in this world are as bad as the ones in mine… well, looks like I'll have my work cut out for me.'

She then went on about ASIC, and THIS information was what piqued his interest the most. "They have been around for a long time, merely as a minor cult religion spreading their beliefs throughout Gamindustri, although many disregarded them as creeps at first glance. However, slowly they began to grow, gaining support, people and influence, which made them become a problem. The CPUs all began to hinder their efforts, but shortly after their initial response we detected unusual readings in the Gamindustri Graveyard. I sent them over to investigate it, but… they never returned." At the end, Histoire looked like she was restraining herself from losing her cool. Her breath was shaky and Vent didn't doubt that her throat was tightening at the bad memories.

Hearing how ASIC started made him confused, however. How did they gain so much support from the people? Likely dealings of a black, dark kind, as well as blackmail and deceit. Vent had seen such organisations before back in his world, the criminal underworld was a haven for those kinds of acts, which spawned more chaos to be part of that vicious cycle. It was why he had decided to 'take the mantle' during the night, to make sure that the innocents were protected from the damned.

Soon, Histoire regained her breathing and continued, "afterwards, things only got worse. ASIC took control of Gamindustri, taking most of the CPUs shares for their own deeds. Shares are how the Goddesses gained their power, and the more they have the more protection they can offer in return. So without them, the CPUs would grow weak and, eventually, fade away into nothingness. Even now, crimes are commonplace now, piracy, poverty and job reduction can be seen wherever you look. In essence, society is falling apart, its strings being cut by the worship of ASIC's Deity: The Deity of Sin: Arfoire."

The male took this all in, looking down at the table as he held his hands together over his lap, he gritted his teeth, thinking about what he had heard, it seemed to be even worse than he had anticipated. In a sense, this world was similar to a patient in a hospital on life support: the CPUs, those girls in the Graveyard, were the 'heart' of Gamindustri, so if they did so does this world. All those civilians who hadn't done anything wrong but foolishly worshipping a deity that would end up destroying the world they called home…

Flashbacks erupted in his mind, flashbacks of people lying in alleyways, in parks, and other places, covered in blood, gruel and other nasty substances. Their bodies twisted and mangled in various ways by their killers, only for those killers to meet a similar fate whether they liked it or not. Fires consumed everything in the male's minds' eye, all except for a faint black figure in the centre, a figure that was bulky and staring into the flames with no reaction.

'This… this is chaos… I cannot let this continue. If I don't do something, then this world and everyone in it will die. In that case, there's only one course of action…' Having closed his eyes while remembering memories that he would rather not, Vent remained silent. Everyone waited for the male's response, Histoire being the most edgy. In her mind, she knew that everything rode on this decision, Gamindustri's future was on the line. Finally, the male opened his eyes and looked dead into Histoire's eyes, his own being mismatched thanks to the emergence of his Kakugan which caused her to jump on her book.

"Where do I sign up?"


	4. Chapter 4 - Tesing 1-2-3

**Chapter 4 Testing, 1-2-3**

The following afternoon, Vent left the Basilicom with IF and Compa in front of him. The two were going to take on some quests to 'show him the ropes' in the brunettes' words. He had introduced himself to her, respectfully if he might add, but she seemed to be on edge around him, not trusting him and thus giving him the cold shoulder. When he had asked Compa about that, she had just smiled as she replied "Iffy has a hard time trusting those she finds suspicious. Don't worry, I'm sure it'll all work out."

That girl was a ball of optimism, he had to admit.

Their conversation back in the meeting room had been a hectic one near the end. While Histoire had looked like she had found the solution to all her problems, both Compa and IF had been like all wide eyed, slack-jawed with a large, "EEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHH?!" at his words, like they had expected him to back down at the information he had been told. Like they saw him as someone who would wilt at the thought of danger, a complete coward… that honestly was insulting.

Nevertheless, from what he could tell they likely hadn't seen anyone else willing to step into the jaws of death like they had for a long time, so it must have caught them off guard. After they had protested to try and stay him from going through with, in their eyes, a 'crazy stupid idea' only to fail, they eventually relented. IF had then suggested that they do some quests to see how much 'use' he would be, something which made Vent hide a grin behind a snicker, something she noticed and glared at him for. Though, he didn't feel threatened in the least.

Though he was up for some questing. It would be fun to test his Rinkaku out on the weaker assholes.

* * *

While they walked down a street, the male evaluated what he knew of the Brunette, and found that it wasn't much, just some hypothesis and guesses. Time for some actual information, he resolved in his mind, "Mrs IF, could I query with you about something?" he asked her, making sure to keep his tone level without much emotion. She seemed like the type to not trust people at first glance, Compa's words support this.

The brunette, who had been scrolling through her phone for something, heard his question and looked up at him with a frown, "depends on what it is, but go ahead." She replied stiffly, eyeing him. She didn't like that they had a guy amongst the party, usually they were either perverts or power-hungry assholes, like the ones that had jumpstarted ASIC's reign. There was a reason why ASIC had a sudden growth spurt, and it had an 'M' at the beginning with an 'es' at the end.

"You work as an intelligence officer at the Guild, right? Histoire explained to me the basics about the Guild with you helping, but I figured your role based on how you have so many phones and how you always look around, trying to get every piece of info you can before deciding on a course of action." Vent asked her, referring to what he had observed from the girl, how she would glance at certain people with a gleam in her eyes that he attributed to suspicion… when she wasn't on her phone. That was another point, people on phones tend to be on the internet a lot, which was a large source of information. Combined with her amount of phones, it wasn't wrong to suspect her role within the Guild, which to him sounded like a Mercenary Organisation.

IF raised a brow at him, mildly impressed at his observation. "you have an eye for detail, don't you?" she remarked, making the male smirk as he nodded his head in agreement. She then sighed before answering his question, "well, you'd be right. Although, with the way things have been going it's more of a part time job now." She ended with a bitter undertone, glancing at the streets they walked passed. The male did the same, and saw several adverts selling ASIC made products. He could tell because they repeatedly mentioned it in the Ads. It made a scowl form on his features as he remembered what they had done to the CPUs.

"On the upside, even if I'm out of the office right now, it won't affect the organisation very much. There's plenty of other Agents out there." She told him, seeming a bit better than before. She looked down at her phones with a fond look on her face, as she rubbed them affectionately, "though, I have been with them for a long time, so I'm counted as a senior Agent. It's given me some 'perks' to help me on my job."

There was a small soft smile on the girl's face, one that contrasted to the frown that had marred her features for as long as he'd known her. Vent didn't take long to conclude that she looked much better when she was smiling. It complimented her features well, made her feel more like her true self: someone who, while a bit arrogant and angry at first, when one got to know her they'd see a girl who got things done, no matter what, with a no-nonsense attitude. Vent made sure to keep himself from staring though, he didn't want her to see him as a pervert.

Her expression changed to her frown soon enough as they reached the Guild's main entrance. "We're here." She said simply as the male turned to look at the building. It looked more like a skyscraper than the other buildings, sharing the white, purple and blue colour schemes. It also looked even more futuristic than the other buildings did, which made him wonder the extent of their technology. Throughout the walk to the Guild building he had seen floating hexagons, Hovercrafts, advanced looking bikes, and much more.

* * *

Entering the Guild, Vent was greeted by the sight of its interior. He expected it to be like the Basilicom with regards to interior design, but he was proven wrong yet again when he saw the various cream, green colours amongst others. They were all very bright though, which helped promote a sense of feminine 'sweetness' that was usually accompanied by females. Now that he had thought that, Vent noticed that the workers, Agents, even the cleaning crew were all female, much to his surprise.

"Uhhh… everything looks cool and all… but I'm starting to see a pattern here…" he remarked with a frown, noticing a lack of male workers. 'Why are there so few, if any, male workers right now? Are they away on quests?' he wondered mentally. It was honestly worrying seeing this.

In a turn of events, it was Compa who answered him this time. "There aren't any agents that are male. Guys don't have the… best reputation, they either are crude businessmen or are useless. So, it's going to be a surprise for them to when they see you here." She explained, to which the male frowned in anger, his eyes flaring with displeasure. That didn't sound anything like something he would approve of. If the males in this world really were useless, then…

'Got a lot of work ahead of me…'

It was honestly surreal, seeing this, usually it was the guys who did all the work while the women stayed home back in his world. That was how Japanese society worked since ancient times since they held the belief that women were naturally weaker than men, even though there have been countless instances where women have been able to outsmart their male counterparts in a fight. So, seeing the complete opposite here, was unexpected and hard to take in for the male. Though he didn't mind it as much, in fact he was pleased that women were given more rights, and it wasn't his fault most males in this world were apparently weak and useless.

"Weak guys aside, we have a job to do, the quests aren't going to be done themselves, you two." IF told them, interrupting the male's thought process while heading to the counter. He looked to the counter and saw a woman in a uniform sitting behind it, typing on a computer. She had light brown hair tied into a bun style, with matching eyes, a few freckles under the left one. Likely a genetic trait inherited from her parents. She wore a pair of smart-looking glasses on her face, with a pen stuck behind her ear. She wore a white dress shirt under a black overcoat, with a matching black skirt; the counter concealed her footwear, though.

Approaching the counter, IF made some small talk with the person, greeting her with the name 'Kasumi' which Vent noticed was on a purple nametag above the area where her heart was. When he and Compa walked up, IF had turned from her calm, kind persona to the serious Guild Agent that she was. "So anyways Kasumi, you have any Quests available or is it just paperwork today?" she asked the woman.

Said woman nodded with a smile as a holographic screen popped into existence in front of the Counter, displaying a series of Quests in the form of a list. There was first a large bold title for the Quest, and a small description on the bottom, which made little sense to Vent as he wondered if that small bit of info was all that people had to go on. "Well, looks like today's a bunch of fetch quests really, looks like monsters have been on the rise, so people want to stock up on ingredients needed to make healing items." Kasumi mused, frowning.

It was then that she noticed that Vent was with the two girls, and her eyebrow rose up in interest, "oh? A male companion, I see… that's new, who's your friend?" she asked while looking at IF. "It's rare for you to take anyone along with you on your work aside from Compa and your small group of friends, even less so if it's a boy. So, what's the story there?"

Vent thought about replying, but decided against it, as he didn't want to come off as rude. Meanwhile, IF crossed her arms under her chest as she responded, "he's someone who wants to 'help' us with our cause, surprisingly enough. Histoire saddled him onto us when he asked if he could help, so we're stuck with him for now, until he decides that this work is too dangerous for a civilian." She explained, glancing at him for a reaction.

There was a flash of… something, in his eyes, but the male had snuffed it out and kept his hands in his pocket while his mouth kept silent, not responding to her comment in the least. She was momentarily surprised by this, usually men would hurriedly deny her accusations of them leaving when the going gets tough. IF had seen many males in her lifetime, and all of them were either perverts who wanted a good time or arrogant asses who thought they owned the place.

Still, she didn't trust this new guy yet. Perhaps he was just trying to look cool and intimidating while on the interior he was just as scared as the rest of them were. It wasn't often, but IF had seen them try that trick a couple times, although she had seen through it near instantly. Men were just that bad at acting, so she gave him a look to see if he was the same, only to find nothing but a wall around his emotions, not letting anything slip out.

While they were having their own thoughts, the male was looking at the pictures of what items were needed to complete the quests, which were shown in small portraits beside the titles. 'So, those are what we need to find, huh? I've got no idea where to look for those, since I'm new to this world…' he thought with a frown while cupping his chin.

"Anyways, we'll take those. Guy's lucky he has these, monsters usually are more of an issue." IF remarked while pressing her index finger on every quest available, taking the work for themselves. Their work mainly involved fetch quests, as previously stated, but she knew that in some cases they needed to harvest items from monster corpses. Monsters that were difficult to defeat.

Then they'll see just how much resolve Vent had to help with their cause.

* * *

Their fetch quests had gone off to a decent start, with a quarter of them requiring a series of herbs to be completed. IF had shown him the picture of what he needed to collect and let Vent be on his way, gathering the items they needed. They had travelled to a fairly isolated part of the Virtua Forest, where they could gather the herbs and plants needed for their Quests to be completed. IF was on one side, Vent was on another, and Compa had her own, making a triangular formation from a bird's eye view.

While they were gathering the required plants, Vent began to wonder about things, things that revolved around is original world. Was he going to be going back there when this was finished? He didn't know why, but ever since he could remember, that place always felt less… natural, less like a home and more of a vacations spot. But that was not the case for Gamindustri. In fact, he felt more at home here doing these kinds of things, than he ever did back on Earth. It was a feeling he'd noticed early on during their travels to the Guild, when he was marvelling at the design of the city of Planeptune.

What did that mean for him, anyways? That he felt this world was homelier than his old world ever was?

"Something on your mind, Ven-Ven?" a feminine vice broke him out of his thoughts. Blinking several times, he looked up from his kneeling position after he'd picked some of the herbs they needed for their quests, to find that it was Compa. She had walked over to him when she noticed him staring at the ground deep in thought. She had been curious, and wanted to see what was going on despite her friend's… behaviour, around him. "You look like you're thinking pretty deeply there."

The male looked at her for a moment, mentally wondering if he should tell her, before deciding to go on a little faith. From what he'd seen, she was a pretty caring individual, even if she showed it in some… weird ways sometimes. People that open about their feelings… turn out to be great people to confide in, and were a rarity that should be treasured in his opinion. "nothing much, just thinking about my homeworld."

Compa tilted her head in confusion, wondering why she would be acting this way. Could he be thinking about something he left behind? Then, something hit her and Compa's face showed concern as she asked, "Are you thinking about ever going back? About returning to someone you have there?"

At her question, the male gave her a surprised stare, no, it was more like a disbelief that she had actually asked that about him. But he didn't hold I against her, it was a good question to ask someone from another world, if they wanted to go back to what they had. After all, one who travels to another world has noting in the new world, potentially leaving their old one forever. "No, no, nothing like that. I was just thinking about how attached I already feel to this world. It's like I was born and raised here or something, weird huh?"

"Eh? I don't think it's weird, really," Compa replied with a smile as she put her hands behind her back and leaned forwards, "it just means you've already grown fond of us, and that's a good thing… even with Iffy's behaviour towards you. I'm sorry if she's been mean to you in any way." She said, apologising to the male with a lowering of the head.

Quickly the said male began waving his hands in front of him, trying to defuse the situation before it could go in a completely different and wrong direction, "I-it's okay Compa, really! I mean, I get why your friend's doing this, she wants to make sure I'm sincere in my desire to help out. She must have had some bad experiences with the opposite gender, added on to the sight of the CPUs imprisoned the way they are, anyone would be cautious of others, and behave accordingly."

Lowering his hands, Vent then chuckled bitterly as memories hit him, memories of what he had seen in the Gamindustri Graveyard, "in all honesty, I bet in her shoes I would be the same. Hell, even now all I can think about is getting the CPUs out of that hellhole. I bet that sounds strange to you, since it's coming from a total stranger, but hey I can't help what I feel."

"You really care that much? That's really nice of you, Ven-Ven." Compa said while beaming at him. She was surprised again by what he was telling her, and equally happy that he was confiding with her. It meant that despite barely knowing her, he'd trusted her with this information, and that alone made he feel much better. "Most boys would have been horny at seeing Nep-Nep and the others in such a state."

The male nodded in agreement, his face setting into a scowl, "yeah, don't remind me." He muttered, glaring at the ground, "In any case, don't worry about me, I'm not going to think about returning to my world until this issue with ASIC is over and done with. Hell, I have only thought about my homeworld just now, the first thought I had when I came here was 'what the hell is going on?' then 'oh shit, that robot fucker is going to die'… so I guess I just don't care all that much about returning."

* * *

While they had this conversation, IF had been listening while collecting the plants they would need. She had seen Compa making her way to him to start a conversation, and wanted to see how it would turn out. In the end, it turned out well, in her opinion, though a small part of her felt a little guilty for eavesdropping in their conversation. IF did however feel a sense of strong determination coming from Vent's words, which she had felt the entire time she'd known him. There was a certain gleam to his eyes whenever she looked at them, something strong, something raw and primal, something that would get done no matter what.

Now, she knew what that was, or at least had an inkling of it. She was surprised that it was to do with seeing Neptune and the others in their state though, like Compa said most guys would be amazed at such a sight… along with aroused. However, from what she could see and tell it filled him with disgust and a desire to end ASIC for the last time. She highly doubted she would be able to get this info out of him; Compa just had that way with people and their feelings. She had something that IF didn't, and while she was sort of jealous of her friend in that respect, the brunette didn't hate her for it.

Nevertheless, she now had something to go on concerning this guy's personality: a strong willpower and a desire for justice, no, it felt a lot like a mix of Justice and Vengeance. This definitely wasn't the run-of-a-mill personality from a normal citizen, something had to have happened to him, for Vent to have that kind of outlook and personality. What that could be, IF had no idea, but she would think on it soon enough. When she checked the quests on her phone, she saw that they had the items they needed, which made her smile.

Finishing with her gathering, IF stood up and turned on her heels, walking over to them while saying, "you guys finished up here?" the two both nodded, Compa having finished before going to talk to Vent, and Vent having found what he needed to beforehand. Even while deep in thought, his body had worked without end to reach their goal. "Good, we should head back now, once we complete these quests, we can-"

Before IF could continue, a loud shriek was heard in the air, sending chills up their spines at the sheer rage and bloodlust within it. Momentarily they froze, unable to move at all. None of the trio had heard such a beastly roar like that one before, and they wished they hadn't. IF, Compa, and Vent all slowly turned to the source, finding something to be heading their way a high speed, crashing before them in a sea of flame.

The male, IF and Compa stared down what looked like a massive ball of fire. The flames burned brightly, embers rolling off the ball constantly like a shower of rain. The ball floated above the ground, hovering before them with an intimidating pressure in the air. The trio quickly summoned their weapons, Vent's ring flashing a black light to reform into his Scythe, IF's Qatars, and Compa' Syringe appearing in a flurry of particles.

Noticing her weapon, Vent gave a raised eyebrow at her choice, a small dose of fear running through his system at the sight, "now that's... an interesting weapon. How's it works?" he asked her while suppressing his urge to cry out in sheer terror at the Syringe's size by wondering how the hell that thing could be used in a fight.

"Oh, this?" Compa asked, making an 'oh!' expression with her face while lifting her Syringe. "It's my combat Syringe, all Nurses, even training ones like me, get one for fighting. We can shoot things ad stab them to inject fluids into them." She explained to him, showing the dark purple coloured liquid inside it.

This only served to make his efforts to hide his fear that much harder, especially now that he had nothing to distract his mind from the horrific images in his mind. 'Okay… that is just scary. I bet a lot of sadists would get an orgasm just by seeing the looks on the faces of their victims when pulling out a Syringe that size.' He thought with shivers running up his spine. Hopefully, he could get used to such a sight, as if he wanted to save the CPUs, Vent had a feeling that he'd have a lot of encounters with it. "Compa… your kinda scary sometimes, you know that?"

"Huh? What do you mean, Ven-Ven?"

"Enough chitchat you two, looks like our friend's about to attack!" IF's words brought their attention back to the ball of fire, which seemed to split apart at the centre. He two halves flared to the sides, revealing themselves as wings, attached to a small insectoid-based body. In a sense, it looked like a butterfly with massive wings of pure fire. The nametag 'Blazewing Butterfly' appeared over its head as it hissed at them threateningly, 2 swirling whirlpools forming on its wings.

That was enough for Vent, as he quickly dove to the ground and took the girls with him, just as the whirlpools launched a pair of large fiery beams at them. The beams sailed overhead, shitting the space behind them and causing a massive pillar of fire to shoot up into the skies. 'Holy shit, that was close!' the male thought as he and the girls stood up from their recent dropping.

"Ouchies, that hurt…" Compa muttered while rubbing her backside. Barely opening one eye to look at the beast as it readied itself for another attack, she quickly turned to her friend, "What's the plan Iffy? You're the party leader, so you got to lead!" she called out while readying her Syringe.

The Brunette nodded, quickly forming a strategy in her mind. "Alright, Compa you stick to ranged fire, focus on its head so it gets disoriented! Vent, you and I will keep close so it can't use any of those fire attacks on us!" she called to the male, to which the said teen nodded as he brandished his Scythe. He raised a hand and made a cracking sound by pressing on his index finger with his thumb, and then ran towards the enemy, IF soon following suit.

Seeing them running at it, the BB unleashed a series of small beams from its wings, the fiery beams coming down on them from above. This didn't happen for long though as Compa repeatedly fired long energy blasts from the tip of her Syringe, at its face to stop it from aiming at the two CQC fighters.

With their opportunity given, IF and Vent got in close and began slashing away at the BB'S main body, their weapons causing damage to the creature's exoskeleton. The male attacked from the left flank while IF attacked from the right, giving the disoriented BB even more pressure thanks to it having to deal with multiple attacks on different fronts.

This didn't last long, for it released a powerful wave from its wings to knock IF and Vent back, before taking to the skies and firing more homing rays at them. Quickly, Vent made a call as Compa lifted her Syringe, the male's Scythe shifting into its gun form while he aimed at the incoming rays. Both began firing at the ones that would have hit them, each shot hitting one ray each negating them both. However, they saw that the BB was remaining up in the skies to continuously pepper them with homing rays, much to their annoyance.

"Ugh, that thing's getting on my nerves! We have to get it to come down so we can strike it directly!" IF called out as she switched to a futuristic looking Pistol and began firing at the other Rays to help them out.

Vent couldn't agree with her more, but there was little in their Arsenal that could take the BB out of the skies. All they had was IF's pistol as her Qatars wouldn't be able to reach it due to them being short-ranged weapons, Compa's Syringe, and his Scythe. 'Wait a minute…' his eyes widened when he realised that they had one more weapon, one that only he could use, 'of course! I just hope I can remember how I called on it the last time… if I recall, Kaneki had a lot of trouble manifesting his Kagune except when he was in dire need of food or when he lacked the training to use it.'

Closing his eyes with that final thought in his mind, Vent began to concentrate. He remembered how the Kagune came out of one's body, and pictured that firmly in his mind, of his Rinkaku sprouting from behind him at the back of his waist like a set of rapidly growing flower petals. A faint prickling sensation formed at the back of his waist, before the sounds of something shooting forth could be heard alongside many crackling sounds.

This caused Vent to open his eyes and look behind him, only to feel his eyes widen when he saw 2 larger-than-normal Tentacles behind him, pointing forwards. To him, there was nothing but his own body, his mind and his newly unleashed Kagune as he stared at it in awe and wonder, 'holy shit, I actually did it… I manifested a Kagune… hell yeah!' he exclaimed mentally, nearly jumping with joy at the feet he had just performed.

"Oi, dude, get your head back in the game!"

Blinking several times, Vent recovered from his brief moment of fanboying when he remembered the situation he was in, thanks to IF's outcry. For a moment he was just as unresponsive as he was when he was in his illusion, but that lasted a millisecond as he focused back on the fight.

"o-oh! Uh, sorry about that!" he yelled beck while firing at the rays again. This time though, his mind was hitching a plan to take care of the situation, as his Rinkaku Kagune reared backwards, 'alright, I remember the Rue island operation where Tatara spewed fire from his Kakuja. It was explained that there was a psychological impact to ones Kagune ability's intense rage makes fire that can burn at 4000 degrees Celsius. The temperature of the sun. if that's the case here, then I should be able to mimic it, the RC type shouldn't matter, but if so I'll attribute the failure to that, if I fail at least…'

With those thoughts in mind, Vent reached deep into his memories, searching for enough of them to fuel what he wanted to do next. There were so many hateful memories that he had in his head, experiences that caused the vengeful flames of retribution to fuel his soul, and Vent wanted to gather them all to the tips of his Tentacles. Every time he viewed a memory in his mind's eye, more and more he would feel a white hot feeling surging within his stomach. A small smirk found its way onto his face in the mists of the rage burning brightly within him when he felt the feeling expand through the centre of his Tentacles.

Finally, when memories of his most recent rage moment, the sight of the captive CPUs, emerged into the forefront, Vent felt like his sight was becoming crimson. But he pushed that into his Kagune, and his efforts were richly rewarded. Instantly, his Tentacles erupted into flames, starting from their tips to halfway down their bodies. These flames were a mix of red and orange, flaring about uncontrollably like their nature depicted them as. Intense heat radiated off them and filled the atmosphere, roaring like a lion.

The heat attracted everyone's attention, the BB, IF and Compa. The girls went slack jawed at the sight while the one former began to sweat slightly, the heat radiating from those Tentacles was hotter than its own wings by a wide margin, hotter than it had ever seen. Instincts screamed at it that the male was a bigger threat, one that needed to be dealt with immediately.

As for the two girls…

"What the heck?!"

"What?! Why does Ven-Ven have burning Tentacles?! Is that even safe for them?!"

The former comment belonged to a flabbergasted IF, who could only say those words to sum her thoughts as accurate as possible. She'd learned not to underestimate those Tentacles back in the Gamindustri Graveyard when they reduced that robot into a shish kabab, but they hadn't displayed this ability before! Her eyes widened even more with realisation when she looked at the BB' wings which were also made of flame. 'So that's his plan!' she thought.

Meanwhile, Compa worried for the Tentacles safety, of all things. She didn't' know if whatever this was, had any adverse effects on the Tentacles themselves, emitting all that infernal heat. it may have come with tremendous strain on the Tentacles themselves, which worried her. Though it seemed that her friend Iffy had seen something else when he caught a spark of realisation in her eyes. "I-Iffy? What's going on? Why do you have that look in your eye?

"just watch, it's about to start."

Back to Vent the male was narrowing his eyes in a deadly manner, raising his right hand to his face. 'I always wanted to do this…' he thought to himself as his Tentacles sook, the Kagune barely being restrained by his will. When he pressed on his index finger resulting in a loud 'crack' sound, the restraints vanished, allowing the Tentacles to lunge forwards, shooting up into the air towards the BB.

It quickly began flying erratically, wigs beating fast to give it additional peed to avoid the flaming Rinkaku which gave chase, lunging at it from multiple angles. It did its best to avoid them, but eventually a slip-up costed it greatly, as a screech tore from its mouth when one Tentacle impaled it's right wing from below, the second one taking this opportunity to do the same for the other wing. They shot upwards before coming back down, slamming into the BB's back, bringing it down to the ground with a mighty slam.

CRASH!

His Kagune ripped itself free, tearing a large portion of its flaming wings off to hinder its flight abilities. The male then combined his two Tentacles, imagining the sight in his mind's eye then seeing it with his own. 'This shit's fucking badass…' he thought to himself with a grin threatening to split his face appearing on it. "IF, now's your chance!" he yelled after slamming his Rinkaku on top of it again as it tried to get its bearings together. "Take it out by the head!"

The Guild Agent momentarily blinked, caught off guard by his yell as she struggled to process what had happened. This only lasted a second though before she charged forth, yelling, "got it!" while dragging her Qatars behind her. She ran towards the Blazewing butterfly, intent on delivering the final blow, only to curse when its severely damaged wings released a series of homing rays at her. "Tch, you gotta be kidding, it still can fire those?"

Before they could hit her, IF saw several appendages, which she realised were Vent's original Tentacles in both size and number, lunge overhead and bat the Rays away, keeping her safe from them. She quickly resumed her charge, and once she was close enough she swung at the beast's head, her Qatar slicing through its flesh and with a mighty battle cry, IF sliced the head in half, flipping into the air and landing on one knee behind the defeated monster.

The said monster gave one final dying scream before its body glowed a bright white light, vanishing into particles as IF stood up and flicked her Qatars down to her sides, wiping imaginary dust and blood from them before she turned to the others. "never underestimate Gamindustri's Wind walker."

"Yay, we did it!" Compa cheered with her arms raised to the heavens. She then lowered them, her expression becoming one of concern while she put a fist under her mouth, "that Monster was a Blazewing Butterfly, right? Why did it come here?" she wondered, frowning as she tried to figure this out while her Syringe vanished into light particles.

IF nodded in agreement, "yeah, you said it. I bet ASIC has something to do with it. Those thing are native to hot, volcanic climates, and the only place like that would be the Gamindustri Graveyard. Likely ASIC wanted to assassinate us with a monster so we don't return for a repeat performance." She theorized, assuming a thinking pose as she dismissed her Qatars.

The male frowned as well as his Scythe returned to ring form on his index finger, his Kagune disintegrating into RC Cells that receded inside him. 'If that's the case, then ASIC can potentially target us anywhere we go. That is a power we'll have to be wary of in the future.' He thought while cupping hi chin before bringing hi thought to the table, "if they can send monsters like that thing at us, we'll have to watch our back till ASIC is dealt with. I may not have much experience with how they operate, but something tells me they care little for collateral damage."

"You'd be right." IF nodded at him, confirming his disturbing thoughts as she scowled, placing a hand on her hip as she continued, "those bastards are real sneaky about how they get things done, they can set up a fake monster attack, then take credit for it when they send operatives to take them down. It's a fast way to earn faith that should be going to the CPUs." She explained to him.

With this information, Vent gritted his teeth as the implications pissed him off big time, clenching hi fists to help stem the tide that was his rage. These bastards were like a lot of government organisations in his world, utilising dirty tactics in order to achieve their own goals with no regard for the loss of life that lies in their wake. All they can see is the end game, not what they have to step on to get there. People like that disgusted him, beyond words, which was why he had taken to his little 'night time job'…

Turning on her heels, IF began walking in the direction of Planeptune, saying, "we should head back to get these quests handed in. it'll be a long walk, so I hope you have enough stamina for tat, kid." She aimed the last part of her sentence towards Vent, who briefly felt miffed at being insinuated as being slow and lazy, but held it in once more. Every jab she had made at him was a test, he knew this, Vent could see it in her eyes. She wanted to goad him into acting like the males she had been used to seeing, to prove that he was inept at his desire to help her and Compa with saving the CPUs. If he were to react, then it would only prove IF right and she would tell Histoire. Then he would have a much harder time trying to get the CPUs out of that hellhole, which was his primary goal at the moment.

That would not be happening if he had anything to say about it.

* * *

With their quests done, the trio returned to Planeptune and headed for the Guild. When they entered, IF lead them to the counter where the same Quest Clerk from before was sitting, typing away on her computer with a stern expression on her face. She seemed to be mildly stressed out, which Vent found to be expected of someone with her occupation. People with the world, he guessed were more likely to be victimised or blackmailed by people like ASIC to support quests that boost their own Shares and not the other Nations.

During their walk back, Vent had gotten curious about the girls' weapons and had asked them how they carried them around. Compa had been the one to respond before IF could, though the latter did add some pieces that her friend had a difficult time explaining, although sometimes she caused more confusion despite her attempts to solve it. Aside from all the technical mumbo jumbo, Vent got the gist of it: apparently, they have special chips implanted in their brains when they are born, that form pocket dimensions that they use to store items and equipment. Someone like him wouldn't be able to use it unless he got one of those chips, called Inventory Chips with their dimensions called Inventory's.

While he had moral qualms about it, the ability to store stuff away like that sounded useful.

As they approached the counter, the Clerk he recalled the name being Kasumi registered their presence. Looking up to gaze at them, she gave a polite smile, hiding her previous demeanour under a professional visage, "hello girls, looks like you've completed your quests." She remarked as IF nodded, smiling warmly while she pressed a few keys on her phone.

The quests appeared on the holographic screen in front of the counter while the Clerk registered them as finished on her computer, before vanishing with a large 'Quest complete' sign replacing each one. When they were all complete, the woman turned to them again, this time her expression genuinely happy. "all quests have been accounted for, the rewards have been placed in your individual inventories." She told them, electing pleased smiles from the trio. Kasumi then turned to regard Vent with a curious stare for a moment, before glancing at IF with a questioning brow raise.

At this, the Guild Agent merely sighed and spoke with begrudging respect, "looks like he has more backbone in him than a lot of guys after all." Her words filled Vent with a mounting pride. While she seemed like she didn't want to admit it, he had indeed proven her wrong about him with that surprise encounter with that Blazewing Butterfly, he had shown her that he could be a valuable asset to the team in his own way. Glancing to Compa, he saw that she was thinking the same thing judging by her happy/thoughtful/hopeful expression mix on her face.

"What shall we do now, Iffy? There aren't any quests to do for the moment, and I've got a day off before I have to return to Nursing School for the beginning of my graduate exams." Compa questioned the brunette. 'Nursing School, huh? This one wants to be a certified medic? Well, it explains the stupidly sized Syringe she carries as a weapon…' Vent thought repressing a shudder.

The Guild Agent thought for a moment till she heard her stomach grumble, teling her that it needed more fuel. "heh, guess we could get something to eat before we find more quests. I know a place nearby that sells great savoury foods like gingerbread men and cakes. We go there for now, so let's go. You two, Vent. If we're fighting together, I'd like to know a bit about my comrades."

* * *

 **Chapter end**

 **Hey guys, sorry I've not stuck to my upload speed on "One Eyed G Re:birth" I have been busy settling into my new lifestyle. So, to keep you guys occupied till tomorrow, I've uploaded this chapter of my other story.**

 **Likely, updates may slow down till I get used to things again after the moving. But rest assured quality chapters are still coming, guys. And/or girls, I'm not judging.**

 **Anyways, peace out!**


	5. Chapter 5 - IF and Nepgear's Awakening

**Chapter 5 - IF and Nepgear's Awakening**

That night, Vent was getting ready for bed, having been given a guest room to stay in the Basilicom till he could afford to buy his own apartment in Planeptune. The male already had several plans in mind for that, as after he had gotten something to eat, in which case he'd learned that even with his turning into a One-Eyed Ghoul he could still consume human food, Vent had looked through several websites on his Phone, which had been on him when he'd arrived in Gamindustri.

The male put on a pair of baggy sweat pants, leaving his upper body exposed to the lukewarm air around him. Whenever he slept, Vent usually preferred to be shirtless since sometimes he got too hot under the covers. One time it had been too hot for him and he couldn't even get to sleep the entire night. Made the following day a nightmare for him, to the point where when he went home the male had flopped onto his bed and fell asleep instantly.

After he got his pants on, the male sat on the bed, exhaling a deep sigh as memories of the day passed through his mind, 'phew, I'm beat. Feels like I did more today than I've done all week back in my world…' he thought to himself, remembering his past. It wasn't the… cleanest, Vent would immediately admit that, he'd seen a lot of freaky, disgusting shit on both his day life and his night one. But if someone like him hadn't taken that mantle, who else would?

Just like with this world, he was taking the mantle of war against the ASIC group alongside 2 others, and hopefully more in the future.

Thinking about those girls brought him to their little get-together in the Café, after they quested when he discovered his still normal diet. Vent had a bit of a conflict about that, on one hand it was great, he'd be able to use his Kagune yet still eat his normal foods, sort of like a Quinx, and it was hinted that natural born half-Ghouls could consume human food when one of them: Eto the One-Eyed Owl, consumed an Apple in the Manga. But on the other hand, he felt sort of… disconnected from the Ghouls, more specifically his Idol, Kaneki Ken. The idol that he had kept within his heart all this time, the one person whom Vent could feel the most connection to.

Other than that, they had a nice time, talking to each other and getting to know each other a little better. Vent learned things about IF and Compa, while he told them about himself too. He learned how Compa was a Nurse-In-Training who was close to becoming an official Nurse, something she had been going for ever since she had first met the Planeptune CPU Neptune several years ago. IF was a Guild Agent, which he had already learned, but what was interesting was how she was higher ranked than mot Guild Agents, due to being in the business since she was a young girl, joining after her parents had died during a monster attack and thus giving her the desire to become strong enough to fight them.

On his side, Vent had told them about how he had done various combat disciplines through books, while also being a hard-core Otaku. They had been surprised to learn that most of his combat skills came from books, which made him inform them that he had read many books in his lifetime about subjects that drew his interest, as a means of helping others when they were being hurt, because there were a lot of bad people in the world he grew up in, people who thought themselves above the law.

The sound of someone knocking on his door pulled Vent out of his musings again, he really seemed to be doing that a lot lately. It wasn't like he could help it either, since he never really talked to people back home, Vent had developed this habit of talking to himself so that he could maintain his sanity. Being alone was against human nature after all, "who is it?"

"It's me, IF. Could ya open up? I need to talk to you." Came the voice of the said Guild Agent from the other side. The male raised a brow at the tone the girl was using, it sounded so different from her usual attitude, less… forceful, and more subdued. Was she alright? Did something happen to make her this way? The only way that he would get any answers would have to be to get them directly. Hopefully that would solve whatever this is, he didn't like how subdued IF sounded.

So, with that in mind Vent walked to the door and grasped the handle, opening it to allow him to see IF on the other side, wearing a simple dark blue nightgown, most likely she had some underclothes within, and her hair was let down completely. She looked so much like a wandering spirit having accidentally found its way to them mortal world with how ethereal she looked.

"ahhhh… wow…" the male muttered under his breath, but IF heard it thanks to the silence of the corridor. 'Oh shit, did I just say that?! Goddamnit, hope I didn't blow anything up!' Vent scolded himself intently and mentally, before he looked to IF to see her reaction. To his surprise, a faint tinge of pink to show embarrassment was on her face, and at that point he KNEW something was wrong, IF the Guild Agent didn't blush like that. "Anyways, what's up? And in this late too? Did something happen and thus you couldn't get any sleep from it?" he asked her.

IF, who had recovered from the unexpected comment about her, twirled a bit of her hair around her finger with an awkward expression on her face. "u-uh, something along those lines. The last one anyways, could we talk inside? It's kinda chilly out here." As if to solidify her point a faint shiver travelled up her back. He could tell because his senses were enhanced to the point where he could pick up on bodily reactions.

But what he didn't realise was that he was still shirtless, and IF was getting an eyeful of his upper body. The girl's eyes distinctly glanced at several of his abs, noting how they were compared to the build bodybuilders that a certain blonde haired CPU liked fantasising about. While he wasn't overly muscular like those guys, he still had a fair bit of muscle, streamlined for both power and speed. She remembered this from when he would fight against that Blazewing Butterfly and that robot in the Gamindustri Graveyard

Oblivious to her eyes ventures, Vent nodded slowly, aware of how this situation could look to an outsider as he stepped aside, allowing IF to walk inside. Closing the door behind him after making sure nobody was around to hear this discussion, the male then walked to the bed where IF had sat, making sure to sit on the opposite end as far away from her as possible. He didn't want her to assume anything bad was going to happen, and hell this situation was awkward enough as it was!

However, IF showed that she had noticed his actions and raised a brow at him. "You know, I'm not gonna bite you. So get closer already." She told him with something he couldn't identify. Amusement? Irritation? Vent didn't know, his senses told him how neutral her tone was, but was it a mask, to hide her awkwardness?

"o-oh, uh, okay." He replied with a small stutter, slowly shifting so that he was at least conversation distance. 'damnit, get a grip dude! You're not here to eye gorgeous girls.' Seriously what was up with that? Why were all the girls in this world so freaking angelic in the looks department? It was like they were designed that way from birth or something! Clearing his throat to stem the awkwardness that was developing in the air, Vent decided to get straight to the point. He figured that IF would appreciate that right now, "so uh, what's up?"

It turned out that his actions had been the right ones, considering how she sent him a thankful look for ending the awkward atmosphere while she managed to form the words for her response, "well, um…I want to know how you did it." She finally told him, a little faster with a slightly altered pitch, but Vent was able to understand it. The meaning behind the question however was another story however.

With his questioning look, IF elaborated her question while looking down at her right hand, which rested on her lap while the left was being used as a support while she leaned on it. "I mean, here's you: a stranger from another world, one more peaceful than ours if what your saying's accurate. You get transported to our world with no idea why or how to get back, but not only do you stay calm enough for rational thought, but you solo a boss level dude, save me and the others from said dude, then discard any info on how to get back to help fix our problems of which you had no need to. Just… how did you do it? How did you do what we… what I have been trying to do for 3 years in 1 day?"

Now that she had elaborated, Vent began to understand what she was asking him, and he had to respond with what he honestly felt, seeing her expression which told him how important this was to her. "Hmmm…" he hummed quietly, crossing his arms under his chest as he looked to the ground. "in all honesty, I think I was able to do all of that because of my night job. I never told you this back at the Café, but back home while I was an otaku by day. I was also a Vigilante by night, going out of my way to capture criminals that were escaping the law. And by capture, I mean kill."

IF, who had been looking down at the ground as well, turned her head to him so fast it was like a blur when he told her that, her eyes were wide with shock and surprise at the unexpected reveal. "H-huh? Kill? Why would you kill people? True they're criminals…" she began to ask, only to trail off at the intense gleam in his eyes that appeared in them like an ignited flame.

"Because people like them will never learn the error of their ways. The people I kill, IF, are disgusting, more so than any pervert you've faced. The worst the people of your world have done is to side with ASIC, and even then when I looked around their areas it was only because their loyalties were bought with figurines and merchandise, not true loyalty. The people I kill were murderers, psychopaths, paedophiles and rapists, the lowest of the low. Horrible people who got a kick out of the suffering of the innocent. Most of them had connections to those in power as well, allowing them to divert the course of justice. So, if justice wouldn't get these criminals, Vengeance would do it instead, I would keep an eye out for trouble, listening to the cries of those wrongfully damned, before exacting vengeance for them." He explained, gritting his teeth while his hands clutched his biceps, his Kakugan activating in response to his anger.

The brunette had NOT expected something like this as she listened to him explain about his night job. She did guess that it explained how he could remain so calm in tense situations, and how angry he would be at whenever someone committed horrible crimes like that. But with his level of hatred for ASIC, she suspected that being a Vigilante was only part of it, there was something else that drove him to exact vengeance on those criminals. She wasn't in a place to judge him for it, hell she didn't feel like he was in the wrong either. How could she? After all she hadn't experienced the same things that Vent had, hadn't seen the horrors he had. And she could tell he wasn't lying with how he was right now.

"That's why," his words then broke her out of her thoughts, making the brunette blink as he turned to look at her dead in the eyes with his own mismatched ones. His Kakugan was slightly intimidating to her, making a shudder crawl up her spine. It had this… predatory feel to it, like it belonged to something that would hunt her down and feast on her innards "I am what I am, IF. I'm able to do these things because I resolved to protect the innocent and punish the guilty. In my world, I had the title 'spirit of vengeance' with the codename PHANTOM. That's why I'll stop at nothing to get those girls out of there, so they can bring back the peace and prosperity they ruled with before."

This was the first time for her, that she saw such a determined look on a guy's face involving something that wasn't to do with their second head, and she had to admit not only was it a refreshing feeling, but it was also something that made her heart skip a beat. 'did that really just happen? Nah, it's probably nothing…' the girl thought to herself. 'But this info just confirms it for me. No matter how hard I try to deny it…'

"I see then… guess I'm just weak then." She remarked, chuckling bitterly as memories flashed through her mind. She remembered getting into the Guild at a young age, growing up fighting monsters that normal humans wouldn't stand a chance against, getting stronger and stronger each time. She remembered how she met Compa became friends with her, up to the disappearance of the CPUs and the 3 years it took to gather what remained of the people's faith in them to save them. What Vent had done had effectively made her efforts feel like a waste.

'Oh no she doesn't…' A hand found itself on her shoulder, electing a surprised jolt from the brunette's form. She looked up to see the hard gaze of Vent right in front of her, "don't ever think that IF, ever. The fact that you have stuck so much alongside those girls is testament to how strong you really are. There's more than just physical strength, there's also mental and emotional strength. Going so far to rescue the CPUs… protecting Compa, being willing to make it so she could escape the Graveyard if you were to fall… that takes both mental and emotional strength, something you have in spades." He told her firmly, his Kakugan only enhancing his stare's intensity… and the effect it had on the one on the receiving end.

She tried to speak, opened her mouth successfully but noting came out as she closed it again. This repeated itself until she finally found her voice, 'Jesus, that stare's enough to render anyone speechless. Wonder if it'd work on Nep when she gets back…?' she wondered before speaking again, "wh-while I do agree with you there, it doesn't change the fact that I was too weak back there, in the Graveyard. I could hardly do anything…"

"Then let's get stronger together."

"Eh?" IF blinked owlishly when the male said that with the same stare he had on before, albeit it softened when she shared a confused expression with him.

The male retracted the hand from her shoulder and took her hand instead, interlocking it with his own as he spoke his next line. "We both have a lot of room for improvement. For one, I have to get a handle on how to utilise my Kagune, since before I came here I was just a regular old human… well, despite being a Vigilante Otaku." He said with a joking tone at the and, along with a small smirk and an amused gleam in his eye that made a smile form on IF's face. "There you go, that's the smile I wanted to see. In any case, I've gotta get used to this world a bit more, and I have to train. So why not help each other out? We can spar when we have free time, even chat with Compa while Nepgear recovers from her experience. So hey, we have a war to fight…"

After trailing off there, Vent stood from the bed and stepped in front of her. With a small smile, his eyes no longer having that hard stare and his Kakugan having deactivated with the lack of anger in him right now, Vent extended a hand for a handshake, "so why not fight it together? If they say 2 heads are better than one, then 3 or 4 heads are even better." He told her, his smile widening into a battle-ready smirk.

Staring at him for what felt like an eternity to the girl, IF was silent, momentarily caught in a state of disbelief. She had come to ask him what had made him so strong, and ended up getting a pep talk, restoring her faith in herself and the last thing she would need to start trusting the male. The entire day had been one big test for him, conducted by IF herself for the most part since Comp bless her soul was somewhat oblivious and naïve to how much attention she got from the male population. If someone were to tell her that a guy who would honestly want to help would appear in their lives, IF would have slashed their heads off while calling them delusional.

Now, here one was, and right now he was helping her through some problems unlike what usually guys liked to do when a girl asks them if they can go into their room. Perhaps… perhaps it would be good to get to know this guy.

A matching smirk crept onto her lips while IF raised a hand, taking his own into hers as they gave a firm handshake. "heh, I'll take you up on that offer…" she remarked while chuckling. The male smiled back, his eyes showing how glad he was that she had restored her previous mood. Heh, she felt much better now that she had talked to the guy, good enough to keep going with their mission. Vent was right after all, they had a war to fight, and what better way to fight than together.

"You know something?" IF began as he pulled her up on to her feet. Wiping the imaginary dust off her gown, the brunette looked back up at him with what could be considered approval. "You're an alright guy. A lot better than the others at least." She told him, getting a nervous chuckle from Vent who was also rubbing the back of his head in a sheepish manner.

"Wow… I think that's the first time you gave me direct positive feedback there, IF."

"Heh, your right. Better get used to it, won't be happening often…"

Both chuckled some more, before IF glanced at the clock beside the bed, and noticed that it was nearly 10PM. She had to get back soon otherwise Histoire or worse Compa may get some strange ideas as to where she was. That nurse, she was too innocent for her own good. "Whelp, I better go, Compa may start getting funny and random ideas as to where I am, just like a certain idiot I know. We have quests tomorrow, and I won't tolerate any whining, got it?" she told him, a hand on her hip as she wagged her index finger at him.

This made Vent nod in response, giving her a playful salute with his other hand behind his back, "you got it, Captain." Rolling her eyes at the newly discovered playful nature in Vent, IF made to leave the room, opening and closing the door behind her while making sure that he didn't see the faint blush she had on her features.

After she closed the door behind her, Vent lowered his hands to his sides as he smirked. That encounter had given him IF's trust, and now alongside Compa he felt like he could finally be considered a party member to them. There may be others like Nepgear though, who would think him a weakling, which he would have to show just how 'weak' he truly was.

Looking out towards the guest room's balcony, Vent imagined what ASIC would be up to right now. While this first match was a win for their side, the war against those assholes had only just begun. Somewhere out there in that vast plane of existence they were plotting, scheming to take Gamindustri down once and for all. ASIC may have more cards than he and the others did, but they would persevere, they'd endure and when the dust settled they would be the victor. THAT, he could promise.

* * *

The morning sunlight shone brightly through the curtains as they stirred awake the one sleeping in the comforting embrace of the bed covers. A masculine groan came from within as the owner of the groan stirred from his slumber, rubbing his eyes to clear them of extra sleep. He was shirtless, exposing his build that was meant for speed and power in a combat situation, as he sat up straight. His brown hair had fallen down to cover most of his face, shadowing his sleepy eyes, which were still closed while he gripped the sheets with his hands.

A faint prickling sensation was felt at the back of his waist, and 6 large red Tentacles covered in black armour plates to the tips emerged in all their splendour, quickly getting to their tasks assigned to them by the boy's will. They swerved behind him as the boy went into the attached bathroom to take a quick shower, washing some areas with soap while the Tentacles washed everywhere else with the cleaning utensils provided. When he was done washing and drying himself off, which took 10 minutes in total, the boy went out of the bathroom clad in only a bath towel that reached his feet, showing his slim build once more. Sitting on the bed, the boy mentally commanded his Tentacles, which obeyed without resistance.

One grabbed a hairbrush before bringing it over to style his hair into its usual slanted, spiked up style which exposed the rest of his face. The rest of the Tentacles slithered through the air into the wardrobe, bringing him his clothes for the day: his green jacket, blue shirt black jeans and green sneakers, allowing him to discard the towel, which fell onto the floor, and begin changing.

A Tentacle went into the attached bathroom, bringing back a tooth brush, already wetted with toothpaste on, and began brushing the boy's teeth while 2 more tied his shoelaces together, 3 fixed his shirt and jacket. The ones that finished his shoelaces lunged into the bathroom to get him 2 cups of water, one of which he spat the toothpaste into while the other was lifted to his lips, allowing him to rinse his mouth to spit out into the other cup. The Tentacle holding that cup went into the bathroom to pour the contents into its sink.

Looking into a nearby full-view mirror, the boy, now recognised as Vent: the teen who entered a gaming world filled with cute girls while becoming a One-Eyed Ghoul, smirked in satisfaction to himself. "There, good to be in uniform, once more…" he mused to himself while straightening his Jacket a little more.

It had been a week since his arrival in Gamindustri, a week since he had first stepped into the war between the 4 Nations known as Planeptune, Lastation, Lowee and Leanbox, and the criminal organisation holding their leaders captive: ASIC, the Arfoire Syndicate of International Crime, and much had changed. Thanks to their recent rescue attempt, which happened to have the ones who participate in it locate him while he was lost and confused, shares for the CPUs of Gamindustri had stopped falling down. The Basilicom of Planeptune had announced that the mission was a success, but wouldn't reveal the full details. It was somehow enough for the people of the nation to begin believing in their Goddesses again, which was what they had hoped for.

Throughout the past week, Vent had been assimilating himself into Gamindustri's lifestyle of taking quests, earning rewards and all that stuff. Sometimes he had some close encounters with grunts belonging to ASIC, whom he was more than happy to teach a lesson. Those beatings resulted in the grunts getting captured easily by the Guild, which was one big mercenary organisation, and interrogated for information about ASIC's plans. Apparently they have begun selling illegal 'Arfoire chips' that are basically like one big bag of cheat codes for games. Pirating, copyrights, and false worship were all the rage right now.

Aside from that, Vet had gotten along with the two girls that rescued him from the Gamindustri Graveyard where the CPUs were held, Compa and IF, very well. The male liked the two of them for their own distinct personalities, since for Compa she was an energetic, innocent and cheerful individual who believed that everything would work out in the end. It was a naïve way of thinking, but one that suited her personality in his opinion. In addition, she was also terribly dense when it came to how men viewed her, many times he'd caught multiple perverted guys staring at her lecherously from a distance some even with Cameras.

They had soon learned why that was a bad idea.

Then there was IF, the one that had the least trust in him at the beginning. However, after some time she had begun warming up to him after seeing how dedicated he was to making ASIC suffer for what they have done. He bet it was their night talk that had clinched it for her, though. IF had been slightly jealous at how he could do things so quickly, things that she had taken years to do, but he was sure to set her straight on that matter. IF was the real strong one of the two, since she had the resolve to keep going while Vent had no idea what was going on at the time. She had entered his room sad, but left on a happy note with a big smile on her face.

Ever since, they had been working closely together on quests, while Compa had been busy with her nursing exams. She was close to graduating, and they didn't want to interrupt one of the most stressful times of her life right about now. So, they had kept up the quest work, IF having made sure he had given his phone to the Guild to be outfitted to Gamindustri's standards. Now it was a lot more… tech, yeah that was a good word to describe it now, with apps and other software it hadn't had on before, and what software it did have was massively upgraded. He bet that the Guild's software and hardware engineers had a heart attack at how many mods they had to do to his phone when they first got their hands on it.

As for training, Vent made sure to train his Ghoul side, exercising his Rinkaku Kagune in and out of battle just like how he did this morning, which was a routine he had been doing for the past week. It trained his usage of individual Tentacles, or multiple at once. Vent knew he was nowhere near Kaneki Ken's level of mastery yet, what he did at the Gamindustri Graveyard was a fluke since he was running on adrenaline. Though, he did get the hang of igniting his Kagune on fire, which increased its offensive abilities significantly. Vent had resolved himself to master his Kagune to a level that would match or even surpass that of Kaneki Ken's, to become someone worthy of this Kagune!

'Alright, enough reminiscing on the time skip for the readers…' he thought, shaking his head as he brought himself back to the present. Vent knew that today was going to be another routine day, but despite that he didn't find himself bored in the slightest. Every day was an interesting one, especially when he'd witness IF and Compa's antics, talk to Histoire or spend time around Planeptune.

Once he had made sure he was presentable, Vent walked to the wardrobe and had his Rinkaku search the room for his effects: his phone, gloves and ring, while he himself reached in and rummaged about for his last new piece of equipment. After several seconds, both he and his Kagune had finished their tasks, the male holding his prize in his hands while his ring, phone, and gloves were held in the air above him by one Tentacle each.

The prize in his hands though was what really got his attention like a bug to the light of a bug zapper. It was a Mask, built to fit around his angular face. It was coloured black, with hollow red eye lenses that concealed his eyes from view. There was a lipless mouth stretching across the entirety of the mouth area, with long sharp fangs made into a creepy smile, one that could only come out of someone's worst nightmares. On the right side of the mask were many tribal markings, shaped oddly like the claws of an animal, while there was a chin part that went over the neck.

This mask was one of his own design, 2 days into his stay in Gamindustri he had wanted to have a Mask of his own, to make him feel more connected to his beloved Tokyo Ghoul. There was also the training to learn how to detach a piece of one's Kagune to make objects like traps and walls, which he figured 'why not combine the two together?' So, he had learned how to make a Mask out of his own Kagune, and this beastly thing was the result. Vent had almost laughed his ass off when showing it to IF and Compa, both girls had been rightly frightened by the intimidating display.

Another benefit to having a Kagune Mask was that I could be stored easily by compressing it into a red orb, which could easily fit in his pocket. This was what he did with his Mask right now, before he exited his room. 'Now, what shall I do today? I should probably head down to the main hall; if I'm not mistaken then Histoire will be down there talking to some businessmen. IF and Compa have already left, if what my phone tells me about the time is any accurate.' He thought, pulling out his phone to show that it was 8:08AM. Usually the girls would have texted him if they wanted to have him join them on some quests, if they hadn't then they must not have needed him. Then again, it's not like they ever needed him for this type of work.

Just as he was about to head on downstairs, his ears twitched as several sounds were picked up by his enhanced senses. There were faint sounds of shuffling on the floors above him, which he had never heard of before. 'What the? Why are there sounds coming from the CPU residential floors? Wait a minute, could she be…?!' his eyes widened when a realisation dawned on him like the beginning of a new day. 'Nepgear is awake! I gotta text Histoire about this!'

Quickly scrolling to his Messages, Vent composed one to Histoire's number, as she had given it to him so they could communicate through calls and text messaging like he did with IF and Compa. Not to be confused with possible dating stuff for any of the pervy readers out there. Seriously, those who read the fics about Neptunia usually are guys who are lonely and want lots of fanservice.

When he sent the message out, he got one after 3 minutes exactly. That was another thing he'd noticed about Histoire, she usually did things within intervals of 3: 23 days, 3 weeks, 3 years, hell didn't they take 3 years to create a Sharicite for the CPUs? Huh… don't think anyone caught onto that. Weird. Anyways that wasn't important right now. Shaking his head to rid himself of unnecessary thoughts, Vent read the message as it appeared on his Phone's screen:

 **Nepgear's finally awake? Oh thank goodness!**

 **Please, go up there to confirm, then bring her down!**

 **I'll call IF and Compa with the news once you bring confirmation!**

The male finished reading and closed the message, and after a small silence passed he could only sweat drop awkwardly as another case of Histoire's intervals of 3 came into play. '1 Text with 3 lines… man, Histoire can be weird…' he thought awkwardly before pocketing his phone and making his way down the corridors. There was an elevator at the end, which he planned to use to get to the residential floors.

* * *

When he reached the elevator, pressed the button for the floor he wanted, Vent waited inside till he got there, which was… again, 3 minutes. He never noticed before, but 3 was used a LOT in this place! Did Histoire have a hand in designing the Basilicom? It'd make sense if she did…

His ears registered the sound of the elevator arriving at the floor he wanted, which bonked him out of the thoughts he had. Vent exited the elevator and looked around, trying to see any differences the residential floors for the CPUs had with the Guest rooms. Well, he could tell for starters it wasn't some big corridor, which relieved him somewhat. It looked like one big living room with transparent glass windows that led to the Balcony outside, showing a huge view of the city. There was a sofa arranged so that many people could sit on it at once, with singular cushions and more furniture, multiple colours as well, not just purple and white, something that was a refreshing change. Seriously, seeing the same colours for so long can be a bit, let's just say, 'spiritually taxing'.

On the opposite side, he could see that there was a bedroom door, and from the sounds of it he could tell that someone was moving inside there, so he went on over to see who it was. Hopefully it would be the Planeptune CPU Candidate and not some ASIC assassin dragging away a lifeless corpse. Oh, gods he needed help.

While walking, the male felt a wave of nervousness assault his senses all of a sudden. He was about to approach a leader class person, or at least a Goddess Candidate, which was like a princess or some form of royalty and all that jazz. What was he supposed to say to someone like that for the first time? 'Hello, my name is Vent, hope we can get along' or 'howdy, pleased to meetchya!' Now that the male was on this train of thought, Vent realised that perhaps he should have thought of this stuff beforehand while on the Elevator. At least then what would happen next wouldn't be so awkward.

Just before he could get to the door, someone opened it from the other side. When he saw who it was, the first thought he had was, 'whew, so it's not an assassin.' Then his second thought came at him like a battering ram, 'holy shit what the fuck happened to her?' the reason why he said this wasn't because of her appearance or anything like that, although he did scan her appearance slightly.

Unlike in the Gamindustri Graveyard, her hair was a darker shade, and reached her lower back in length, while her eyes were matching her hair in colour. She wore a single D-Pad hairclip on the side of her head, while around her neck was a white choker. She wore what looked like a dress shaped like a Sailor uniform; reaching her thighs with a mix of white, light lilac, dark purple and blue. Her legs were covered by a pair of lilac and white striped stockings, while her feet had a pair of white and purple shoes over them. Right now, the girl was leaning on the side of the door frame with one hand, her head hanging low as she groaned in discomfort.

But that wasn't what caught his attention the most, what he noticed most of all was how sickly pale she looked, like she hadn't eaten in so long that she would likely be starving for food. Vent heard that she would have been on life support in her room, but that wouldn't have been enough for her body to properly heal. She needed food, and she needed it fast, and he had just the idea for how to do that.

Before he could do anything however, the girl looked up and saw him, her eyes widening and with a startled yelp she hid behind the door of her room, peeping her head out to look at him. The shyness of the girl was made apparent with her gestures, which made him sweat drop slightly, although he also felt compassion for the girl. "Let me guess: your shy around strangers?" he asked her. The girl nodded in confirmation, making the male sigh as he crossed his arms while thinking of a way around this.

Moments later, an idea came to him as he fisted his palm, a light bulb switching on above his head, "oh, that's right! It alright Mrs… um, Nepgear, is that your name?" he asked her, getting another nod from her. "Okay, good. I can tell you're pretty famished right? I'll make you something to eat, the stuff that life support systems can't be too filling. The name's Vent by the way. Pleasure to meet you." He greeted her while he walked into the small kitchen extension. Vent could smell fresh ingredients there, and knew that they would be put to good use.

"o-oh, thank you, that's nice of you. I'm N-Nepgear, Planeptune's CPU Candidate. It's nice to meet you, Vent." She replied bashfully, looking down to not meet his gaze and hide the embarrassed flush on her face. 'A-a-a boy is in the Basilicom! I've never had the chance to talk to one like this, big sister usually scared them off for some reason. Histoire said she was being 'a protective older sister' or something like that.' She thought to herself. 'But now that I think about it, he does look familiar…'

* * *

After moving to the sofa while making sure to get there as fast as possible so she can avoid the kitchen area, Nepgear sat down with her hands on her lap. Curiosity filled her as she wondered what kind of food that Vent would make. She could smell food being cooked in the kitchen, and whatever he was making smelled good.

Meanwhile, Vent had just texted Histoire telling her that Nepgear was awake but she needed some more time to get herself into shape for a conversation. Histoire had told him to be quick as they needed to know what happened back at the Gamindustri Graveyard. 'We can be as quick as possible and risk opening up mental traumas, or we can do a moderate pace while making sure to be careful with our words. I'm inclined to go with the second option, though I can see her point…' Vent thought to himself as he made breakfast for the girl, likely the first breakfast she ever had in 3 years so he had to make it good.

Soon, the breakfast was ready: sausages, eggs, bacon and toast. Once he placed it all on a plate, put the utensils at the sink for washing later, added in a glass of orange juice from the fridge, Vent brought it over on a tray to the girl and sat it in her lap. Her eyes widened as delicious smells whiffed into her nostrils. "Eat up girl, from the looks of it, this'll do you some good." He told her, giving her a soft and encouraging smile as he sat on another sofa beside hers.

Grasping the utensils, Nepgear began to dig in, slowly at first. But the moment her lips and tongue tasted his food, her eyes shot open with massive stars as a mix of flavours she hadn't tasted in years filled her taste buds. 'Wow, this is delicious!' she exclaimed in her mind, quickly devouring everything she had on her plate. It was all gone in a matter of moments, temporarily catching Vent off guard, 'whoa holy shit, she was hungrier than I expected!' the male thought in amazement.

Once she had finished her breakfast, Nepgear remembered she wasn't alone and flushed red even more than before, bashful at how she had behaved in front of him. Before she could say anything though, the male beat her to it, "don't worry, I made it so that you could gain your strength quicker. You looked like you needed that." He said softly with kindness lacing his words. He knew she would love some kindness right about now, especially after what she endured.

It worked though, as a bright smile lit her face up like a candle light. "Th-thank you so much! That was delicious." She complimented, looking much better than she did before. Her tummy was full and her skin was a fairer colour now, with her headache and dizziness fading away to a point where she barely noticed it anymore.

Vent checked the time on his phone, seeing that 30 minutes had passed for Nepgear to eat and regain her strength, so he decided to begin. "Well, now that you've eaten, we should get going, Histoire wants to talk to you. IF and Compa are going to be there too." He told her.

In a flash, Nepgear's eyes lit up like they were search lights when she heard those names. Quickly, she shot to her feet and bounded for the door to the corridors, eager to see those two people once more after being immobile for three years. "IF, and Compa, really?! Yay! I get my friends again, I haven't seen them for so long!" she exclaimed happily, positively glowing at being able to see them again.

The male could only chuckle in amusement as he watched the eager girl fumble with the console to the door, her excitement making her type incorrectly a few times. It was nice to see her so energetic instead of all nervous like earlier. Thus, he began to move on after her, gently pushing her aside so he could get to the console. "Alright then, let's get a move on Nepgear. Can't keep em waiting, can we?"


	6. Chapter 6 - Rundown

**Chapter 6 - The rundown**

Walking down to the elevator, the distance was rather short this time thanks to there being a lacking of a corridor. But there was little discussion between the two, since Nepgear was still shy around him even with his apparent kindness for feeding her and trying not to scare her. She had her head down, not meeting anyone's gaze while her hands were folded in front of her thighs. This worried the male, but the reason why he didn't do anything as of yet was because Histoire had told him that Nepgear would need to warm up to him at first, since he was a stranger, and a guy at that. Because of her sister, she hadn't much experience talking with boys, and was quite innocent with them. She still had been asked out many times though, more so than her own sister, which of course had led to a number of awkward rejections.

When they reached the elevator and Vent pressed the button for them to go to the ground floors, the male looked towards the pinkette beside him and decided to get her to warm up to him a little, "how are you feeling?" he asked with a quiet undertone. It had been a chore to figure out what to say to a shy girl like her, as usually back in his vigilante days he would save the innocent, bring them to their parents or the police then leave. He hadn't talked to them in simple conversation, which meant that IF. Compa and Nepgear were the first 3 girls he'd talked to like this.

"Um, I'm fine, I guess. My head still aches a bit, but it's not as bad as before thanks to the food…" she replied nervously, holding the side of her head. She wouldn't look at him yet, but that was fine for now.

After humming to himself, Vent remembered something and snapped his fingers, "ah, I may have something to help with that." He told her, finally getting her to look up at him. Her eyes were filled with childish innocence and curiosity, which only made them more… appealing to look at, though Vent quashed this desire before it could take root. Reaching behind him, Vent pulled out a sack of ice cubes, freshly chilled in the freezer back in that room.

With them in hand, Vent offered them to her, the girl graciously accepting them and putting the bag on her head. She moaned in pleasure, feeling her headache lessen considerably thanks to it. "Thank you, again. Can I ask you something? What were you doing in the Gamindustri Graveyard? You looked like you were in a heated battle." She asked him when she had gathered the courage to look up at him.

Vent had to suppress his rage when the memories of that abomination returned to the forefront of his mind. That thing had survived their first encounter, but it would not be the last time they saw each other, that was for certain. One day they would return to the Graveyard and they'd have to deal with that thing, and he'll be there when it finally meets its end.

But for now he would quell his anger, Vent didn't want to scare the girl he was trying to make comfortable with his presence. "You could say I was fighting a pest. I'm not actually from this world but another though I can't say how I got here since even I don't know that." He told her, remembering how he got here. Now that he thought about it, Vent realised this was the first time he had wondered how he got here, back then he'd been more focused on where the hell he was and not the 'how'. And when he'd fought that abomination all thoughts of his world just flew out the window, replaced by 'get that motherfucker!'

His words brought intrigue and wonder onto the girl's face as she looked at him with excitement breaking through her shyness, "wh-wha-really? Wow, I've never seen something like that before!" she mused, looking him over like he was some alien life form that had to be studied.

Not sure what too feel about that, Vent gently pushed her back when she got too close within his personal space, "whoa girl, retract those claws please, it's a little too early in the morning for that." He chided her with a stern gaze. Vent didn't like how she saw him just then, but figured that she had a reason behind it.

Blinking several times, the girl had the decency to look abashed when she realised what she had done, or almost done, to him. "Oh, I'm sorry, it's just that I was so curious about your origins that I couldn't help it, really. I've never met someone from another world before…" she explained, poking her index fingers at chest level while looking down, once again refusing to meet his gaze.

Said gaze softened as Vent softly ruffled the girl's hair, much to her surprised as a pink hue formed on her face at the cuteness of the gesture, "don't be so worried, I don't mind you being a little curious. Just let me know if you want to ask something, alright?" he told her with a kind smile on his face. It felt like he was finally getting somewhere with this girl, she was slowly losing that stuttering she had around him from her nervousness.

"Okay, I will!" she proclaimed, clenching a fist in front of her chest while having a determined expression on her face. A few seconds later, a question popped into her mind, one that she wanted to query with the boy while she got the chance, "so um, what were those Tentacle things you had? I've never seen anything like them before, they felt unlike the chords that held me and my sister for so long." She asked him.

The male raised a brow at that, "you realise you're the first to ask me that, right? Well, apparently I'm only half human. My other half, my Ghoul half, is what gives me those Tentacles, which are a Rinkaku Kagune. It means shining scale, if you're curious. It also gives me enhanced senses and physical abilities which help when I'm fighting monsters." Vent explained to her, Nepgear listing to every detail like a perfect honor student.

* * *

They were still conversing about his Ghoul side when the elevator opened and they stepped out into the main hall. Histoire was there, talking to IF and Compa who both wore urgent yet hopeful looks on their faces. The moment they heard the elevator doors open, they turned to see Nepgear and Vent walking out, talking like they were old friends. Histoire formed a small smile onto her features, 'looks like he's getting along with Nepgear… I was wrong to be worried about her…' she thought to herself.

"GE-GE/GEAR!"

Both girls ran over to their friend, whom looked in their direction and beamed at them, "IF, Compa!" she exclaimed, embracing both her friends in a girly triple hug. There were girly squeals from 2 of them while the brunette just laughed merrily, Vent just stepping back and watching it happen with a happy smile on his face. He had half expected IF to be just as girly as the other two, but hey, all's well that ends well.

"You're awake!"

"What a relief. You were asleep for so long we got really worried."

"You are not going to join them?" Turning to his left, Vent saw Histoire float over to him, wanting to talk while the girls had their moment. After all, this was their time to reunite after so long had passed.

The male waved a hand dismissively while speaking, "pft nah, I figured this would be their time for now. Let's let em have this, it may be the last time they get to be this happy in a while. Also, they haven't seen each other in 3 years, I don't want to step in the way of that." He told her, crossing his arms as he turned his gaze back to the girls, who were still hugging each other with tears in their eyes. Even IF, to his surprise. Though he guessed she did have a cute girly side, and was just as worried about her friend as Compa was, she was just better at hiding it.

Histoire did the same, noticing the same things he did but didn't comment on them, "yes, I feel the same way. These girls have some catching up to do, 3 years' worth." She remarked with a small smile. Several seconds later though, it turned to a frown as she brought up another topic, "unfortunately, we may not have the luxury of time, ASIC has been on the move again, Nepgear's return has slowed them down a bit, but they are quickly regaining their former strength."

Vent narrowed his eyes at this, "Tch, shit that's not good." He muttered under his breath. If that was the case, then they needed to act fast. When one is hit by another, they usually try to punch back, harder than the punch they had been hit with. If they followed that formula, ASIC would have something big in mind for them, so they needed to be ready.

Once the girls had calmed down and everything was back to the usual levels of atmosphere, things began to get serious when Histoire floated over to them, "how are you feeling, Nepgear?" she asked with care and concern.

The girl looked over to Histoire with a nod of her head, "ugh… I'm fine now… even so, I'm really sorry…" she apologised, bowing her head in shame, "I mean, I was useless in that place… I couldn't do anything…"

'Oh boy, that's hard-hitting… and for a shy timid girl like her… I'm not surprised that she's so traumatised by that event…' Vet thought to himself, with a frown on his features. He could tell the girl was scarred deeply by her hellish experience, heck he was half expecting the others to be the same way once they got out of that hellhole.

Meanwhile, Histoire closed her eyes as her own guilty conscious kicked in, awoken by Nepgear's words and reference to the Gamindustri Graveyard. "If anyone should apologise, it should be me. It was my command that sent you five to that battlefield." She remarked with a sad tone, looking down with Just as much, if not more, shame than Nepgear had right now. It must have affected Histoire just as much as them, it may as well have been her being with them in that nightmare.

Mental damage can be just as deadly as physical damage after all…

After hearing her words, Nepgear hurried to correct the Oracle who was now guilt tripping herself. She waved her hands in front of her while saying, "n-no! I would never blame you. It all went south because…" before she could finish Nepgear lowered her heart, a depressed look forming on her face before she finally ended that sentence. "Because I wasn't strong enough…"

"Hey now," Vent began, interjecting into the conversation seeing as how the two were getting lost in their own misery. "This isn't anyone's fault but the those that did this. Stop making yourselves miserable thinking about it, it won't help anyone." He told them with a firm look on his face. Vent didn't like being hard on them, but when he saw the looks on their faces his instincts told him that he had no other option.

Shaking her head, Histoire resumed her usual demeanour, breaking out of her thoughts for the moment, "yes, you are right, thank you Vent." She thanked him with a smile, the male nodding as he took a back seat to this conversation as she turned to Nepgear, her smile fading and in its place a serious line formed from her lips. "it may be sudden, but I must ask you to recount what happened 3 years ago, at the Gamindustri Graveyard." She said with a grim tone, knowing that while too soon, Nepgear had the answers to their questions, questions that had taken them 3 years to finally get an answer form.

At first Vent thought she would buckle under the pressure, but he must have underestimated Nepgear as she merely closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "of course… it all started when we arrived…"

* * *

"We just arrived at the Graveyard when we came under fire from the monsters…"

Nepgear, in her other form, was firing at dozens of monsters while her sister and the other CPUs were fighting on the front lines, hanging on easily with their combined skills. The monsters were relentless though, and one of them even remarked how intelligent they seemed, like they were able to think and calculate their attacks.

"We were able to beat them despite their newly shown intelligence, and proceeded into the Graveyard…"

The CPUs and Nepgear went deeper inside, remaining in their forms that they had been in when they would be rescued by IF and Compa 3 years later, finding small packs of monsters that would attack them, forcing them to fight them off. It was tedious, and drained them of much of their stamina. Nepgear was the only one to notice something off about them, it was almost like they were… guiding them somewhere.

"There were countless monsters there, undocumented in any bestiary, so we had no knowledge on how to fight them, but… it was nothing compared to the monster we faced later."

They all managed to get to the big wide open clearing that they were seen 3 years later in, where they found something weird in the centre. What looked like a red floating power button shaped crystal was there, almost as if it were… welcoming them? The one with the Axe ad blue hair had acted first, quickly bringing her Axe down on it to destroy it, only for a flash of light to blind her. When it died down, they came face to face with a monster that trumped any of the monsters that they'd seen before. It looked almost like an illusion, but several bodyparts were solid. The body was yellow coloured, made out of slim, skeletal armour plates with blue hair coming out the sides and back of the elongated head. Its eyes were hollow white, and its maw had long, sharp teeth that could cut through metal if they got the chance.

"We called it a Mirage Dragon, as it had powers over illusion to set up traps for us whenever we came to attack it. It was a difficult boss monster, even for us. But we eventually managed to beat it…"

The Mirage Dragon cried out its last as it fell to the ground, lying dead on its side before it vanished into white particles. The CPUs and Nepgear were panting heavily their bodies littered with wounds and their clothes shredded in multiple places. Not only did they go through a tough fight, but ¾'s of their energy reserves had been spent by this point. It was a surprise that they were still in HDD right now. They looked like they could barely stand up at this point, though that would pale compared to what was to come.

"And then…SHE appeared."

As the CPUs made to leave the area, a sinister womanly laugh echoed throughout the Graveyard. "You foolish CPUs, you've all fallen for our trap." The voice mocked in between laughs. They didn't get a chance to reply for what looked like several beams of lightning shot out from 5 different corners, colliding in the centre to form an energy prim of power that trapped them inside the clearing, soon becoming transparent so that they couldn't see it anymore.

Seconds later their troubles got worse when the ground ahead of them turned into what looked like a red, black and pink pool of mud, from which a figure rose from the centre. The mud clung to the figure's form, making it look like the mud was rising out the ground. It then shattered into pieces while the ground returned to normal, revealing the figure to them all.

It was a woman, that was the first thing they noticed, and the second was her sinister presence. The woman was almost nude in appearance, with lilac-white coloured skin that was complimented with purple makeup/lipstick. Her eyes were yellow, almost glowing in the darkness of the Graveyard, while her nails were pink coloured with the appearance of claws. Her hair was a bright pink-neon colour, worn in pigtails with long spiked bangs framing her face. For some reason she wore an eyepatch over her left eye, giving her the appearance of someone who had experienced battle.

She wore black armour type clothing with her outfit resembling a very revealing Bikini attached on the sides by straps. In her hair, she had spiked/webbed-styled pieces on both pigtails, along with a halo-like ornament above her head. On both arms, she had black armour resembling gloves that were fingerless and began at her elbows. Her boots also were made of armour and began at her knees. Her wings were consisting of spiked segments attached to each other with pink "blades" on the bottom of each one.

Her clothing appeared to be a twisted parody of the CPU's outfits.

"We didn't know who she was, but she was powerful, that we could tell from her aura. We tried to fight her, and…"

The fighting was short lived, and unlike how usual fights go where one is outnumbered by 5 to 1, the 1 person won. The lance woman was knocked unconscious with the axe girl, the sword welding white haired woman tried to fight back but she too fell, without being able to do anything about it. Last of all was her sister, Planeptune's CPU Neptune, who tried to attack only to be grabbed and engulfed in a massive explosion, screams being heard from within.

When it died down, only the woman was standing, and she was right before a terrified Nepgear, an ominous sinister aura about her. Despite her overwhelming aura, Nepgear could still see the unconscious, defeated forms of the CPUs sprawled on the ground behind the woman, helpless before the incoming torment that would plague them for 3 years yet to come.

"Please… stop this!" Nepgear cried out in terror and fear, fear not only for her companions, but also for Gamindustri in general. The woman however, was silent, unmoved by her cry as she reared her Scythe back for a swing. Nepgear, realising that this was the end for her, gave one last exclamation before her timely knockout from the woman's Scythe, "at this rate… if this goes on like this any further… then Gamindustri… will be doomed!"

"She defeated all of us… she didn't even flinch while doing it, nor did she bat an eyelash. We were nothing to her, especially with how the Mirage Dragon had weakened us so much, for her to finish us off. When I was knocked out, I barely caught a glimpse of the woman's smile, like everything had went exactly like how she wanted it to go. I realised that everything, the signal we received, the monsters, the Mirage dragon, it was all a ploy, a ploy to get us to a state where we would be unable to resist capture. That was the start of… our 3 years in the Gamindustri Graveyard."

* * *

"That's insane! All of you lost against a single opponent?!"

"That's so hard to believe…"

After Nepgear told them the story of how she and the CPUs got captured, everyone was in mixed states of disbelief. IF and Compa were struggling to come to grasps with something that they believed was nigh impossible: a single entity capable of taking down the CPUs alone. Histoire was in a similar boat, as she hadn't, seen someone of that power for a very long time.

Vent however, was also finding practical points in the story, "not exactly, from what we can tell it seems ASIC had this planned from the start. They took off our heads before we could take off theirs. Take off the head and the beast falls, it's a basic rule of nature." He remarked thoughtfully, a hand on his chin while his head was tilted downward, eyes cast onto the ground. "I also suspect they have something to do with those 'new monsters' you said you saw. It can't be a coincidence that they were able to lure you into a trap set by ASIC, and were within ASIC's HQ." his inner vigilante was telling him something wasn't right, that they hadn't gotten all the pieces of the puzzle.

"I agree; it is suspicious indeed." Histoire nodded her head, now both concerned and suspicious about the story they were told. What Vent said had made sense, and raised a lot of questions about the emergence of these newer monsters, ones that had no answers at the moment. She would have to do more research on this topic when she had the time.

Their thoughts were broken when a concerned Nepgear began to speak again, having recovered quicker than expected from having to tell that god-awful story to them, "Can I ask a question now? What happened to Gamindustri after we lost that battle?" she asked them, clenching a fist over her chest. Vent noticed this, and remarked inn his mind how she seemed to do that when she was nervous: a psychological tick if one would. "You said it's been 3 years and all, so…"

"Unfortunately, the situation is bleak, exactly like you said in the Graveyard, Nepgear." Histoire replied with a sad, solemn sigh as she recounted every change that befell Gamindustri. "ASCI, who we assume is controlled by their deity leader Arfoire, now controls much of the world." She told her, much to Nepgear's horror. "No, that can't be…"

Vent watched this, having already heard it before when Histoire wanted him to join in the fight against ASIC after they rescued Nepgear from the Graveyard. Still, it irked him heavily to hear it again. His arms crossed over his chest, his hands gripping their biceps. H recalled every sight he'd seen revolving ASIC, disk burning, disk copying, even kids these days were thinking that ASIC was awesome and have put their faith in them.

Histoire then said something that he hadn't heard back when they told him everything, but still figured out in the end, "what we do know is that they are trying to revive their godly entity: The Deity of Sin." She said with grave seriousness, raising a hand as if pointing out facts on a board. "At the rate our world is declining, they may achieve that Goal soon."

'That's more than a little worrying…' Vent thought to himself, 'if that is the case, then we don't have a lot of time. I don't want to see what happens when the deity of sin is revived by the name alone, and I even know nothing about it. If someone like me admits hat, then this must be seriously fucked up.' He just had to say something after hearing that, "there's gotta be a way right? To halt them in their tracks, I mean."

Nepgear nodded in agreement, her eyes pleading while Vent's were sporting more of an urgent gleam to them. "Vent is right; can't we do something to stop this? We can't let ASIC win or the whole world will fall." She asked, no pleaded with the Oracle, who sighed once again at the two.

"Yes, such a way exists still." She told them, much to everyone's surprise. They all focused their attention on Histoire now, even IF and Compa. Whatever it was, they would gladly help where they could. "And that way is you, Nepgear, along with the other CPUs younger sisters, your fellow CPU Candidates." She revealed to them. 'Wait, fellow Candidates? Well, I guess that makes sense, if there's more than one nation there had to be more than one leader, right? Those leaders have to have candidates for the position when they themselves are no longer around…' Vent realised in his mind.

While Vent was able to recover from the surprise revelation Histoire threw at them quickly enough, the others were a different story. "Wait, me?" Nepgear asked with barely any comprehension at all, pointing to herself. If he didn't know any better, Vent would have sworn he saw question marks appear and disappear over Nepgear's head. "and… I'm not the only CPU Candidate?"

This earned a nod of confirmation from the little Oracle, who proceeded to explain to stop any confusion and answer their questions, "yes. As you know, the CPUs and their Candidates can gather shares. They are the only ones who can do this." She explained, noticing Vent's eyes widen in realisation, and instantly she knew that he had figured it out with his well above average deduction skills. She could also tell that IF had figured it out too, both she and Vent possessed a great intelligence for this kind of work, it had been recorded many times by the Guild and sent to her as a report on the male's progress in assimilating into Gamindustri's lifestyle

"If enough shares are taken from them, ASIC should weaken considerably." She finished as a light of comprehension formed in Nepgear's eyes. In a sense, they would be doing to ASIC what they have been doing to Gamindustri for 3 years. The only reason why they couldn't before had been because they didn't have a CPU Candidate with them at the time, though the same couldn't be said about the other nations. But now…

While everyone was thinking about this, Nepgear started to have a thought process of her own… and not the positive kind. 'They want me to help gather shares in my sister's stead? I…. I want to help my big sister… I want to help the world… but… there's no way I can beat such a strong opponent… I haven't gotten a chance.'

Vent glanced at her and his eyes narrowed into a knowing stare, 'oh no, looks like her trauma has left a major imprint on her self-confidence. We will likely have to deal with that before we proceed with anything else.' He thought to himself. Self-confidence was a vital part of being a vigilante, one had to firmly believe in what they were doing, and that their actions were the right ones. If one doesn't have this, then they would be easy pickings for those willing to exploit their talents for their own gain.

IF then presented the sol problem Vent had seen with their plan, taking the spotlight figuratively though he didn't mind. In the original rebirth series, he was never around, so he was kind of like an intruder. 'Wait, what?' Vent wondered, before shaking off those weird thoughts for now as he heard IF speaking, "isn't that approach too slow? We're only one group, and ASIC is larger. They'll take back the shares we manage to gain through quests."

Compa then added on with her concerned face on, "good point, and also, the people who once believed in the CPUs will likely know that they've lost by now." She remarked sadly. 3 years was a long time to be gone for, so it was only to be expected that people begin to lose faith and hope that they would return.

"In that case, we should request the assistance of every mascot residing in each Nation." Histoire responded easily, revealing another lead that none of them, even Vent, were aware of. 'I wonder if Histories' been doing all this while we have been out questing. It may be unlikely though since she's usually busy with her oracle duties. I also recall she's the leader of the Guild, which adds more work onto her plate. She should definitely hire an assistant…' he thought in concern. That woman has done some much work that it has gotta be weighing her down, she should take a break every now and then.

When they asked her what the Mascots were, Histoire replied with. "Born from the ancient Goddesses, they oversee the state of this world in a passive manner." She told them. "That is to say, they pursue peace and prosperity, and remain neutral above all else. But when needed, they will stand alongside the CPUs and rid the world of evil's influence."

'So they're like observers, huh? Powerful ones if what Histoire's telling us was true.' Vent thought to himself, 'Why didn't Histoire tell us sooner? Do they not respond to anyone who don't have the proper clearance or something? Or was she too busy with her duties, and if that's the case she REALLY needs to have a vacation.

"I had no idea they existed…" Compa whispered in awe and wonder of these new revelations. These Mascots, which they had no idea even existed until now, had such a role to play in Gamindustri's function. If they had known this beforehand, could things have been different? She could understand why they were kept a secret though, people like ASIC would have tried to do something about them by now.

Histoire closed her eyes and released a solemn breath, "indeed. Even I am not aware of their precise locations. I have been researching the whereabouts of the Planeptune Mascot, but to no avail…" The Oracle explained while frowning in concern. She didn't like how she was unable to pinpoint them in the right direction. They would be wasting valuable time they could be using for more important matters.

Her eyes steeled once more, this was not the time to be feeling sorry for herself or her own uselessness. Right now they had something, and that was enough for now. "In the meantime, while I attempt to look into this again, please regain Planeptune's Shares." She requested of them, though to Vent it felt more like a command, a command he would obey without question. That kind of attitude may be dangerous, but that depended on the commands themselves. If he was being commanded to kill innocent people, Vent would object immediately. But he wasn't, so no dice. "This will also serve to rehabilitee Nepgear's combat ability."

"Makes sense, Gear hasn't been moving for 3 years, so she's going to be a little rusty. Oh yeah, are you hungry Gear? Do you need something to eat first?" IF questioned, turning over to Nepgear, however her eyebrows furrowed in concern when she saw how the Planeptune CPU Candidate wasn't responding, apparently deep within her own thoughts. "Hey, gear, you listening?" she asked with a slightly raised voice.

This managed to get through to her as Nepgear opened her eyes, blinking several times as she regained her awareness, "huh? Ohm um, I'm fine, Vent gave me some breakfast early this morning." She told them, glancing at the mentioned teen who was busy thinking as well, with a shy expression. It was a fact that she had gotten a good first impression of him, he had shown that he had a kindness that was equal to her friends, and that he was very considerate of how she felt.

Both IF and Compa noticed this, and they gave each other knowing looks and smirks. The brunette decided to go first, grinning as she spoke in a teasing tone, "looks like someone's certainly taken with a certain guy, huh?"

Her remarked caused the girl to go crimson as she turned around to face IF, hurrying to deny her comments, "n-no, it's not like that! I just met him, so that couldn't happen!" she stuttered all the while, but IF never let up on her teasing much to the girl's dismay.

While that was happening, the teen himself was thinking about what they've learned and ASIC's plans, if they haven't gotten to the Mascots already. 'It's likely for us that ASIC has been made aware of the Mascots, since not only do they have lots of people in their organisation, they also will have moles in every Nation's government. In essence, they will likely have some time to mobilise. Not to discredit Histoire's security, but it's just a gut feeling I have that they will have attempted to destroy Planeptune' mascot already.'

Soon it was time for them to head out to get the shares that Planeptune needed to regain from ASIC' control. They would have a long journey ahead of them and Histoire foresaw that they would need some assistance, some technological assistance other than IF and Vent's phones.

"Very well. May I please have your attention, Nepgear?" Histoire asked after clearing her throat, which was done to hide the amused chuckle she had inside. The girl looked over to her, feeling very glad to get a distraction from that embarrassing stuff. When she had her full attention, Histoire held her hands out and in a flash of light, an item which looked like a handheld console, black with a purple N on it.

While Vent was wondering what it was that Histoire had given her, Nepgear voiced her confusion and his, unknowingly, as she held her hand out and grasped the object, holding it in her hand as she looked down at it, "what is it?" Histoire responded like a teacher to a student, "This is an N gear, a tool that has a wide array of different functions. I believe it will prove invaluable to you on your journey."

* * *

As they walked out into the streets of Planeptune, Vent and the group began to make their way towards the Guild, with IF explaining to Nepgear about the Guild and her role in it. All of it Vent had heard before so he didn't bother listen in. What he did listen on was the talking amongst the normal citizens, or NPC's as the others called them. A lot of them were whispering excitedly amongst each other at the sight of Nepgear's form, the younger ones looking at her with lecherous eyes while the older ones knew the significance of this.

"hoooo, look at that hottie, where's he been this whole time?"

"Wonder if she likes ramen?"

"Who cares about that, she looks like she could be 'fun' if you know what I mean."

"Ugh, gross but true, dude."

Their comments enraged him the more he heard his fists clenching as he struggled not to rush over and bop those idiots in the nose. When Vent glanced at his brunette friend he saw how thinly veiled her disgust was, her body language was similar to his as well. Only Compa and Nepgear were oblivious to what was being said, but that was a given with their innocent personalities, though Vent and IF were not like the in that regard. In a way, he was glad they were so oblivious this stuff would only distract them from the base purpose of their journey.

Noticing his state, IF frowned, remembering how much he respected women, she had learned that fact about him not only though his actions but their talk at the Café. She could tell he was someone who didn't like viewing women as tools for pleasure. She searched for a way to calm the male down otherwise there would likely be a bloodbath in Planeptune, and while she would have loved to see the looks on those perverts' faces as their punishments were served, it wasn't worth losing a party member.

An ideas came to her seconds later as she smirked to herself, slowly moving to his side s she leaned to his ear, whispering, "just so you know, its guys like that who tend to never get laid… at least without alcohol and a lot of strings attached." As she removed her mouth from his ear, the Guild Agent judged his reaction, and found that her plan had worked, his form seemed to be less angry right now and more amused as a smirk tugged at his lips. A second later he began chuckling with the brunette as they journeyed to the Guild.

* * *

They finally arrived at the Guild and IF ushered them inside. Nepgear looked around as Vent closed the entrance behind him, her eyes filled with awe as she took everything in, "so this is the Guild…" she muttered under her breath as she walked with the others towards the Guild Counter.

On a side note, it wasn't Kasumi who was at the counter this time, but another woman who wore a similar uniform.

Looking up at them, the woman greeted them with a polite smile, "ah, IF I see. Ah yes you are due in for some quests, yes? What would you like today?" she asked while pressing some keys on the computer to bring up the available quests. There weren't very many today, like usual. With the way things were, there were bound to be fewer quests to give out to the Agents with so little to remind them off the CPUs.

Just goes to show just how vital their work would be.

In the end, IF chose a simple monster killing quest in Virtua forest, apparently the client had seen a pack of 'Dogoos' which were small blue slimy dog creatures, and wanted them terminated before they could become a problem for the nation. "Alright, we got our job for the day, so let's get moving people!" IF proclaimed while accepting the quest like she did when Vent first came to the Guild, before turning on her heels ad marching straight for the entrance again.

"IF's sure fired up today…" Vent remarked with a small smile, nodding to himself in approval of his friend's mental state as he gently caressed the top of his Ring while following suit, his jacket ruffling slightly as he did so. At the prospect of hunting monsters, his Kagune could be felt within him, shaking in anticipation for its next meal. It was as fired up as his companion was.

Compa 'hmm!'ed in agreement as she too followed him with Nepgear following close behind, observing the trio, "it's because now we are finally making a difference in the world, now that we have Ge-Ge with us. Seeing Ge-Ge again, alive and healthy even, is a huge help too, I'd think." She commented as they left to go do their job.

Unbeknownst to them, Nepgear was having thoughts about them as she stuck to the rear and watched the three interact with curiosity, hope and concern in her eyes, though none of them noticed like previously mentioned. 'The three of them are so close… how could that guy bond with them so much in one week? I hope this doesn't affect our sales for spinning off the rail like it was hinted in another game…' she thought with slight worry in her thoughts about the possibilities of the franchise, before shaking her head to clear those thoughts from her mind and follow after them.

"Is it time?"

"Yes, HE is nearing the first one."

"It won't be long till we must act."

"Very well, we shall send them in. To fight a monster, you need a monster of your own, and ASIC has plenty of those."

"Yes, Lady Magic!"


	7. Chapter 7 - Hd-oh, false alarm

**Chapter 7 HD-oh false alarm**

The group of four made their way to Virtua Forest, intent on completing their first quest to restore Nepgear's combat ability. They had travelled at a moderate speed since Nepgear hadn't fully recovered her full strength yet, only some good old fashioned exercise could solve that problem. Once again Nepgear had been impressed by Vent's stamina, as she was under the impression that guys were weak still, despite Compa and IF's word's saying otherwise. She did trust their judgement, but wanted to see for herself if they were telling the truth or not.

And apparently they were.

When they reached the entrance, IF looked up her Phone to check the quest details once again. She narrowed her eyes for a second, before looking to the others with a firm expression on her face, "alright we're at the right place, we should be finding the Dogoos somewhere close to the entrance." She told them as she turned to make her way into the Virtua Forest, only to blink owlishly. "… oh."

"What is it Iffy?" Compa asked as she walked up, having remained behind the group for the majority of the trip. When she stood right beside her friend she saw what IF had paused her speech to notice, and her face loosened in surprise, "eh? That's…"

The other two looked as well, now curious as to what had surprised the two of their companions. Nepgear and Vent were reduced to the same state though, when they saw a pack of 20 Dogoos already assembled before them, "… wow, now that's a lot of Dogoos. I know they operate in a pack mentality, but still? Where the fuck's the leader out of them all, they look the same to me." Vent commented with a sweat drop beside his head. Nepgear laughed weakly as she agreed with his statement.

"No clue, so we just have to get rid of them all." IF told them with a battle ready smirk forming on her features as she summoned her Qatars. She held them out in a ready stance while the Dogoos all looked at the girls with eager gleams in their eyes. It was clear what they were after judging by where they were looking, which only pissed Vent off more so than normal. "You ready?"

Slowly, a dark smile came onto Vent's face, one that would send even the worst of the worst villains running for the hills. It sent chills down the spines of the Dogoos and even the girls, though IF and Compa were less affected by it. The same couldn't be said for Nepgear, who was shivering like a leaf at the slasher smile on his lips. Raising his hand, Vent cracked his index finger while he activated his Ring and had it transform into his Scythe, twirling the Shaft in his hand before grasping it firmly and holding it over his shoulder. "Oh I'm ready alright. Let's cut them up really good…"

KI radiated from his body as his Kakugan activated, scaring the Dogoos senseless as he charged forth without waiting for a response from the others. The creatures all shrieked in unison as the male jumped at them, coming down with a slash that was the start of an all-out slaughter fest, laughing maniacally all the while.

"E-eeep! Why is Vent acting so scary?" Nepgear asked with a shiver as she saw him utterly decimate the Dogoos with a mix of Scythe swings and CQC skills. Part of her was impressed at the display, to the level of amazement, though it was overruled by the instinctual urge to cower and prey for her soul.

Compa giggled however, her innocence shining through as she answered Nepgear's question, "aw don't worry, it's just Ven-Ven. He just dislikes anything perverted, so when he heard about the Dogoos and their… tastes, he got really mad and destroyed a whole bunch of them in a single afternoon." She told her, summoning her Syringe before joining in on the battle by firing several rounds on Dogoos that tried to jump Vent from behind. She knew he wouldn't likely need it, but he'd like it all the same.

IF nodded in agreement, her smile just as vicious as Vent's was as she started walking forwards, "no need to be scared Gear, he's on our side. Remember, he did just solo that CFW Judge guarding the CPUs back at the Graveyard. You should have seen what he was like when he first arrived here, all eager to earn our trust that he wasn't like most guys. Anyways we have a job to do, fight first talk later." With that, IF jumped into the fray, adding the sounds of her blades slicing through Dogoo slime to the maniacal laughter of Vent as he switched his Scythe into its Gun mode and blasted Several Dogoos, kicked one in the face in a reverse back kick before slamming the bottom of the barrel on it.

Nepgear gulped, swallowing her fear as she held her arms out in a specific stance, with her right hand shaped like it was holding something cylindrical while the left was curved in front of her face and above the other hand, almost as if shielding her. In her hands, her weapon was summoned from her inventory: a bladeless hilt that appeared in her right hand before it shot an elongated energy blade outwards its light not blinding the girl thanks to her hand.

'That boy… no matter how scary he might be; he says he's here to help us… so maybe I'll put my faith in him… I wanna help my big sister… but even so, I…' her mind raced with images of her sister being defeated in her last moments in the Gamindustri Graveyard. Gulping back her anxiety, Nepgear jumped into the battle as well, slashing at the Dogoos closest to her while trying not to get to close the bloodbath that Vent was enjoying.

* * *

Their fighting was short lived as, with the combined might of IF, Compa, Nepgear and the near psychotic Vent, the number of Dogoos dwindled down to one. It was shaking like a leaf as the male slowly made his way towards it, his eyes wide with bloodlust while his Scythe dragging along behind him, the blades making a gash along the ground as he did so. 2and then there was one of them..." the male mocked with a sinister look on his face, before it morphed into a stoic, stone-cold one, with his eyes losing all traces of bloodlust and replacing it with a look of eerie calmness. Raising his Scythe, the male muttered in a blank tone, yet one could still tell that there was malice in hm based off just that. "Now die, your pathetic excuse for a being."

Just before the Dogoo could be slashed apart and ended, it gave a squeak, jumping back before turning behind it and running deeper into the Dungeon ahead. Now this pissed the male off again, as his expression partially returned to his previous one, "Oi, you get that slimy backside back here!" he yelled, shifting his Scythe into Gun mode before firing several rounds. However, the Dogoo managed to bounce out their path as it made its getaway, forcing Vent to grit his teeth and utter a "Tch!" before running off after it.

"Huh? W-wait up Vent!" Nepgear cried as she ran after him, not wanting to lose sight of their newest party member. That, and she was worried a little about his mental state right now. What would happen if he were left alone? She didn't admit it, but part of her would be concerned without end if she didn't follow him. It was her nature to be concerned about others, even when traumatised.

Compa quickly turned to IF, "Iffy, we gotta go chase them, they could get hurt by themselves." She pleaded with her, leaning forwards with her hands under her chin while her Syringe was being cradled with the joints of her elbows. She had this desperate expression on her face that just enhanced her cuteness and the effect it would have on others.

The Brunette proved to be no exception as she made to deny that statement, knowing that Vent would be okay, but then she closed her mouth again. Vent may be able to handle himself, but Nepgear was another story. She still hadn't gained back her self-confidence, and with the way Vent was acting right now she would take a while to accept it. So with a sigh, the girl gripped her Qatars and relented to Compa's request, "alright fine, we'll go. Come on Compa, before that kid gets too far ahead of us."

* * *

Chasing the Dogoo down for 10 minutes, Vent began to get frustrated along with his usual anger against this species. He felt so angry that he didn't know what would happen once he got his hands on that thing, ripping it to shreds seemed to be the least it deserved… and not in a good way. His Kagune shuddered within him, eager to be released to cut this fucker to ribbons.

Before he could contemplate any more ways of killing the Dogoo, it suddenly stopped when they reached a small clearing within the forest. It turned to face him after he slid to a stop, having been running for so long that he had momentum to drop in an instant. After he caught his breath, Vent looked up and grinned savagely, his bloodlust making itself known once again, "heh… Hehehe… that was a nice workout you gave me Mr Dogoo…" he whispered, standing tall as he flicked his free hand to the side, twirling his Scythe in the other one before stabbing several of its blades into the ground. "Now let me show you just how much I appreciated being led on a fucking goose chase, WON'T YOU?!"

Nepgear soon arrived on sight, followed by IF and Compa. "Those two… haa… have such… haa… haa… insane stamina…" Compa breathed heavily while holding her kneecaps with her hands. She may be a good runner like IF had commented back in the Gamindustri Graveyard, but even she had limits.

IF had to agree with her as she too caught her breath, "yeah… haa… well, let's just call it exercise… anyways, let's finish up here and collect our reward." She told them all as she finally found her voice. The others all were in agreement, they wanted to get this done as soon as possible, get back home to take a nice long shower.

However, things wouldn't go as planned…

"D-Dogoooooooo!"

The Dogoo before them let out a call, and in no time at all more Dogoos came out into the clearing, some from the surrounding wilderness while others solidified from melting through the ground to take their default forms. In the end, there were about 60 of them standing before them, ready to commence the next battle.

"dog-dogoooooo!"

"Dogoooooey!"

Compa gave a cry as she saw what was going on, "yikes! So many Dogoos!" she held her syringe defensively, out of instinct. When an animal was outnumbered by 10 to 1, they would usually have some form of defence mechanism to compensate, which for her was her trusty syringe.

'I see… so that was their plan from the start.' Vent frowned, shifting his bloodlust to the back of his head to examine the new situation before them, 'the ones we fought before were like a scouting party, and when they were about to be wiped out, one of them made their way to another area where they could call for backup. What we're seeing now is likely the whole hoard of them… I can see how they would pose a problem.'

The male got his Scythe ready by shifting it into Gun mode, he didn't want them getting too close otherwise they could overwhelm them with numbers. Their best bet would be to either keep them at a distance, which likely would fail early on since IF and Nepgear were close combat fighters, or group them together then blast them with IF's fire spell 'Demon Flames'.

But if he thought they were through showing off their new tricks, he would be mistaken.

"… What are they doing?" Nepgear asked with her eyes filled with confusion. The reason? The Dogoos began to seemingly dogpile on top of one another, the pile rising until it towered over the four heroes. It looked a little intimidating to her, and reminded Nepgear of the size that robot had back in the Graveyard. Their intentions were unknown to her, as well as the entire group.

But their intention soon became clear to them, when their body parts began to sink into their lime-like bodies and disappeared, the hill becoming a mass of blue which began to reshape itself, becoming more Dogoo-like in shape in which it became more rounded, swiftly forming the Dogoo features.

In seconds, they stood before a 12-foot-tall Dogoo, or rather a 'King Dogoo' stood before them. It had the same features as the smaller variants of its species, but when it yelled, "dog… Goo… Dogoo!" it was noted to have a deeper tone of voice than the smaller ones, which were high pitched.

Vent could only sweat drop at this, shortly losing his urge to kill the thing before them, "huh… that's a crappy digivolution if I've ever seen one…" he remarked casually, almost feeling disappointed. In this world, referring to games, movies and other forms of media was the norm here, and it had taken him a while to realise this and adjust to it. As of now he was a little skilled in referring, but not to the level of pros out there. It was only natural since he'd been in this world for only a week.

After years of being a vigilante in his world of fighting on the streets, disabling many criminals and secret projects by dark organisations like ASIC, stuff like this was not surprising to him. In fact, his mind's first thought was based on curiosity about the creature's capabilities now that the Dogoos had assumed a new form. His mind was on high alert as it scanned the enemy, looking for any details that might hint at what he wanted to know. 'Hmmm, it looks like a carbon copy of the original Dogoo variant that's a common sight in Gamindustri, and any other abilities are invisible to the naked eye. However, the abilities it has already shown, the Dogoo species as a whole anyways, will likely have been strengthened. Perhaps…' reaching into his Pocket, Vent fingered the ball that was his Mask in standby form, which shuddered in response to his touch. 'Perhaps utilising my Kagune will be of a use here.'

Unlike him though, the others weren't as calm and collected.

"Did they just combine?!" Nepgear cried out as she looked on in shock at the sight before her. The girl looked upon the new King Dogoo with fear, though she tried to hide it, which failed miserably.

IF herself blinked, stepping back with caution as she realised that this wouldn't be as easy as she had thought, "whoa, its massive…" she commented with shaking eyes at the size of the King Dogoo. Vent himself could only sweat drop at their reactions. While he knew that they didn't have the same experiences as he did with his Vigilante job, Vent wasn't sure this could be counted as something to worry about. 'Bit extreme reaction, don't you think IF?' he asked mentally, but didn't say it out loud.

The brunette's eyes gained a recognition in them as an idea popped into her head like a balloon, before she turned to Nepgear with her face becoming one of determination. "Oh, I know. Gear, go ahead and transform. That'll make this a snap." She said with a confidence tone of voice. HDD was a Goddess's true form after all, and its power was beyond human limitations so it would be a sure fire way to win in this situation. Even a CPU Candidate could be a force to be reckoned with when accessing HDD.

Unfortunately, though, Nepgear's mental state had been completely overlooked by the Guild Agent.

"T-Transform?"

"Yeah, HDD: Hard Drive Divinity. You haven't used it before since coming back, right? Now's your chance!"

When Vent made to revive the idea that Nepgear going HDD right now was probably a bad idea, no that wasn't right, her going HDD would be a blessing right now, but given the way she was acting that wouldn't be possible, he stopped himself. That was because Compa made her own comment before he could. "Iffy, you just really wanna see Ge-Ge in her super pretty HDD form."

'Really? Huh… I guess that would make sense, IF has been doting a bit on Nepgear since we got her out of there…' Vent thought to himself, before he glanced at Nepgear to see how she was handling this. When he saw her expression, his worry came back vigorously, as in that moment he knew that HDD would fail. No, it was more like the wielder wouldn't activate it.

His theory was unfortunately made a reality when Nepgear tried to activate HDD, even psyching herself up for it as if to try and push back the trauma. However, it appeared that the trauma had a powerful hold on her mind still and Nepgear began to form tears in the corners of her eyes, her body beginning to shake uncontrollably. "I… I can't…! I'm too scared to use it!" she exclaimed, vehemently shaking her head with her hair flailing in response to the shaking.

The male face palmed, he knew that would happen. 'Damnit, looks like that trauma's more dangerous than I thought!' he cursed in his head, clenching his fists so hard that they began to go white. This just motivated him even more to rip apart ASIC when he got the chance, for making someone innocent go through such a scarring experience. In addition, with her shy and timid personality, the effects had only been strengthened on her mind.

Compa directed a stern gaze towards IF, clearly in disapproval of how insensitive IF was just now, having forgotten about the trauma on Nepgear's mind from her experiences. "Iffy, you're being really mean to Ge-Ge right now." She scolded her, much to the brunette's surprise and confusion. She would have retorted that she wasn't doing anything bad, but decided against it. When Compa was mad at someone, it was best to just apologise and get on with their lives as she would always have that 'say you're sorry' aura about her when she was mad.

With a sigh, IF relented as she spoke, "that wasn't my intention… #sigh# alright then, we'll just have to beat it up the old fashioned way." With that comment out of the way she readied her Qatars and got into a fighting stance, with Compa doing the same with her Syringe.

* * *

As the battle began, Nepgear made to do the same as her friends did, albeit with a bit more hesitation than before, when Vent decided to make his move. "You guys hang back; I'll take care of this." He spoke to them all in a sudden, stoic voice. All his tension had left his body, leaving an eerie calmness about him that could unnerve a lot of people.

"Huh?!" all three girls yelled simultaneously, not believing what they were hearing from their male companion. They quickly got over enough of their shock to find their voices and made to voice their opinions on how stupid that was, when the male looked at them and they froze.

'WH-what? Why do I feel so tense all of a sudden…?' Nepgear could only think that as they all received a gaze from Vent at the same time. The moment they did, it was like everything stopped for them, because not only were they looking at his HUMAN eye… but also the black and red eye that was his Kakugan, with the veins spreading across the side of his face. It made for a scary image that sent shudders down their spines.

"You guys are strong, I get that, but right now one of you is too traumatised to battle right now so she should be your main focus. Meanwhile, I'll take on this ugly hump of slime over here," he said, pointing his thumb behind him at the King Dogoo, which bristled at the indirect insult to its appearance. The way he did it also irked it, as he had done it while facing the girls and away from it, like it wasn't even worth looking at for more than a few seconds.

His reasoning didn't stop Comp though, as he was sure to find out in the next few seconds, "but-but you can't fight it alone! That's dangerous, allow us to help!" she tried to reason with him, but the male shook his head. He wasn't having it right now, especially when he saw how bad Nepgear was right now. She wasn't ready yet to suddenly jump back into the fray. Maybe if the brunette hadn't told her to go HDD this wouldn't have happened, but that couldn't be helped now.

"No, your primary focus should be to get Nepgear out of here, she clearly needs more time to recover. I know what you're going to say about how we don't have the luxury of time, but forcing someone to do things while under influence of psychological impairment will only end up in tragedy for everyone." He responded evenly, not at all fazed by her words. Nepgear flinched at his response, this was happening only because she was too weak, too helpless to go HDD…

'He has a point… if I can't go HDD then I'll be dragging everyone down, but… still I…' Glancing at the King Dogoo, Nepgear frowned to herself, debating something in her head. She was still scared, lacked any confidence in herself, but… "it's-it's okay!" she called out, drawing everyone's attention. "I'll fight, even if I can't go HDD. It may be tough, but I will try for the sake of my sister." She said, trying to put on a brave face for them while also making sure to suppress her fear for now. This had to happen, not only would the monster not let them go that easy but if she took Vent's words into heart, then she had to make sure she wasn't dragging the team down.

The male looked at her for a moment. In his head, he was questioning whether to enforce the option of her returning to Planeptune and let them deal with the King Dogoo or let her fight. Looking at her now, he could see she was still scared, heck she was shaking like a leaf for lack of a better adjective. However, there was also a certain flame there, a certain desire, and that resulted in his final decision. "… Alright. If that's how you feel, then I won't stop you." He told her, but mentally he added on, 'but that doesn't mean I'll stop regarding you carefully Nepgear. Your strong, I can see that, but right now what you really need is confidence. Something that, sadly, I don't know how to give you.'

Now that it was confirmed that Nepgear would be fighting, Compa and IF stepped forwards, "if Ge-Ge's going to fight, you can't leave us out, Ven-Ven." The Nurse-in-Training spoke seriously, holding her Syringe like an assault rifle. "you can't play favourites in a party, you know, everyone has a part to play."

As IF nodded her head in agreement, Vent regarded them for a second before sighing to himself, "alright, I give, you two can fight too. Geez, such stubborn people…" he muttered the end bit while shaking his head with his hand on his forehead in amusement. He should have felt frustrated that they weren't adhering to his advice, but instead he felt proud of them. Nepgear was still able to go out of her boundaries even with her trauma, which was something he could respect in her. It made her stronger than the average human, while IF and Compa were some of the best friends one could have with how they supported her with everything they had.

"It's part of the whole party shebang. Anyways, let's get focused here, people. This guy wants to dance." Indeed, the King Dogoo grew weary of waiting and struck, lunging at them for a tackle. Vent and the others scattered, landing in separate angles around it before IF struck first, raising her hand and doing a raising motion like she was lifting something over her head, "DEMON FLAMES!" she called out, several explosions going off all around the King Dogoo before erupting into a pillar of flame. Intense heat hit the creature's skin, and began melting the slime in small areas.

Compa took this opportunity to fire at its eyes, keeping it distracted for her friend to run up and slash it several times at its side. IF then jumped into the air, her arms thrown sideways as she came done in a spinning slice. Her Qatars cut into the creature's hide clean through, before she landed before it.

The King Dogoo gave a mighty war cry, bouncing into the air while attempting to body slam her, only for IF to jump back just in the nick of time to avoid a direct hit. However, the force of the impact created a shockwave, one that caught her and sent IF flying into a tree. "Gah!" the brunette cried out as flames of pain rushed up her spine from where she was hit, before she fell to the ground with a thud. "Ugh… that smarts…" she muttered while stumbling to her feet, looking little worse for wear but otherwise okay.

'Hmmm, judging from its move set I'd conclude that it's not like the Blazewing Butterfly which had hidden tricks up its sleeve. I'll finish this quickly so we can get some relaxing done.' Vent thought to himself. That short exchange between the three was more than enough to gauge the threat level of the enemy, and like he had assumed it had its abilities strengthened from the fusion, but that was pretty much it. It was merely a one trick phony; something that would die easily against even the weakest of Ghouls.

Slowly, Vent raised his hand to his face, his hair shadowing his eyes. It was time to end this, and he knew exactly how. IF noticed he hadn't moved, and in a show of irritation, yelled out "hey dude, what are you doing?! Get moving the enemy's gunning for you!" true to her word IF was not the only one who noticed the male's lack of mobility, for the King Dogoo did also, and wanted to capitalise on the opportunity to get revenge for the insult to it earlier.

Just as it made to lunge at him, something shot out and lunged towards it first, slamming into its chin and sending it sliding across the clearing. The thing had receded into his body faster than one could blink so what it was remained a mystery, although IF and Compa had a good idea of what it was anyways. "This fucker's just a one-trick phony…" he muttered under his breath.

A thumb pressed against his index finger from above, and a resounding crack sounded throughout the area. That one crack was enough to send shivers up the spines of the others, while the King Dogoo began to sweat, and if he were a betting man Vent would have sworn he'd seen the lower part of its body go dark blue. From that single crack, Vent's Rinkaku snapped out the back of his waist, the red Tentacles with their black armour pieces slithering through the air, their red bits pulsating continuously as they pointed forwards, similar to a set of spider legs. He cracked his second finger with his thumb, throwing his head back with a grin so vicious it was reminiscent of a rabid animal, his mismatched eyes screaming with hunger and bloodlust. "It's honestly… HILARIOUS!"

2 Tentacles snapped forwards, crackling sounds coming from them as they made to impale the King Dogoo's body, for it to jump into the air like IF had done earlier. It came down on him from above, intending to squash him like it tried to do to her, but the Tentacles that didn't attack combined together, forming a single larger one that swung like a baseball bat, knocking it away. The first 2 Tentacles quickly grabbed it by its Tail and slammed it into a tree, then another, and another, before throwing it to the ground.

His offensive not done yet, Vent charged forwards, his Kagune slamming into the ground to give him a burst of speed by propelling him forth with the force of the impact. He slammed head first into the face of the King Dogoo, before twisting and slashing diagonally with his Scythe, causing it to cry out in pain.

Those cries were silenced by a series of bullets from Compa's Syringe, while IF chose to follow their lead and attack its face she did this several times, adding in a few kicks for variation before flipping back to avoid a tackle.

A Kagune to the face was its reward for its troubles as Vent rushed in again, his time repeatedly smacking its face with his Tentacles, before combining them together and raising it above the King Dogoo's head. He curled tie tip around, making a makeshift spiral with his Tentacle before slamming it down hard on the enemy, earning another exclamation of pain from it. He flipped back, splitting his Tentacle back to the 6 default ones before slamming all of them in sequence into its face.

Nepgear charged with a mighty battle cry and slashed at its back, her energy sword being much more effective than physical weapons at dealing damage since it burned and cauterised the wounds it inflicted. The King Dogoo turned, several indentations on its face to show that Vent's Kagune was doing its job, before trying to bounce onto her. Nepgear froze at the sight, before barely dodging in time by rolling to the side, crying out at the shockwave generated from the impact, though she got the distance she wanted.

While it turned, another DEMON FLAMES was activated by the Guild Agent, burning it even more than before. When the attack finished, they saw that it was indeed on its last legs. It was shaking ever so slightly, with multiple parts of its body leaking slime onto the ground. Burn marks were visible all over, and its body was steaming from the intense heat it had been subjugated to.

Nepgear decided to be the one to finish it off, surprisingly enough. Her body pulsed with power as she activated a skill of her own, "MIRAGE DANCE!" she cried out, charging forwards in a way that almost made it look like she was flying across the battlefield, closing the distance between them and begun slashing at it repeatedly. Vent narrowed his eyes, wondering what was so different about these ones compared to IF's, but quickly amended his thoughts at seeing how much damage they were doing to the monster.

Skills, they were another norm for Gamindustri Vent had discovered. Every adventurer/Guild Agent seemed to have their own set of skills that they could employ in battle, and as they grew stronger they would develop new skills that they would instinctively know how to use. Though, the experience with those skills was still necessary as otherwise they would miss and leave them vulnerable to attack.

Because he wasn't from Gamindustri specifically, Vent wouldn't be able to use Skills like they could. It would make sense that he wouldn't be able to, since his world operated differently compared to Gamindustri but as a payoff he could utilise his Kagune with deadly results, that more than compensated for his lack of firepower in that department.

By the time the last slash was made, an explosion of energy engulfed the King Dogoo, which seemed to be the last it could take. It gave a last dying 'Dogooo….' Before it vanished into light particles like the other monsters of this world. Turning to see the fruits of her labour, a huge smile spread across the CPU Candidates face, joy flooding her for the moment of her victory as she bounced happily, "yay! Did you all see me back there?!" she cried out while making a V sign with her fingers over her right eye. The others all chuckled at her.

"… well, it went better than I hoped." IF remarked as the group put their weapons away, Compa, her own, and Nepgear's vanishing into their inventory while Vent's Scythe turned to its ring form and his Kagune receded into him once again. She then looked towards her pinkette friend, her eyes flashing with concern, "are you okay Gear?"

The previous happiness born from the adrenaline coming from her victory faded away quickly, as Nepgear remembered the failure she had in not being able to transform. She lowered her head dejectedly while making a fist over her chest, tears in the corners of her eyes at her failure, "I-I'm sorry… I…" she tried to say, but her words stopped in her throat. She didn't want her friend to be mad at her for not being able to live to her expectations.

However, IF shook her head to dissuade her of those worries, "Just forget it." She said while turning on her heels and making her way back through the way they came to the Forest in the first place. "We completed the request, so let's head back to the Guild and receive our reward."

* * *

After they returned to the Guild and handed in the Quest they completed, the group gained their rewards and as a bonus, Nepgear commented on how she felt the shares of Planeptune increasing slightly. It was a sign that their work was slowly paying off, bit by bit. "There, you see?" IF began as she turned to Nepgear, a supportive smile on her lips as she regarded the CPU Candidate, "Report the results, and get paid, see? It's a simple process, right?"

Now that she had been on a Quest, Nepgear did indeed discover that was all it was, and smiled happily, clearly content with what she had to do for now, "Yes. It is. We collect work from the Guild, complete it, report it, and collect the posted reward!" she replied, happily. It felt good to get something right for a change, especially after her screw up in the Virtua Forest.

Compa had an exact replica of Nepgear's smile on her face, but compared to hers Compa's was much sunnier, almost blinding really. "Aww, you're such a smart girl, Ge-Ge!" she gushed over the pink haired CPU Candidate, "I'm one happy Compa right now." Compa was so proud of her friend for getting this far, despite their recent hiccup. When IF had first explained it to her, it had taken multiple explanations and Quests for it to sink in for her.

Meanwhile, Vent was thinking to himself while standing at a nearby pillar, leaning on it with his back. 'This'll only be the first of many Quests, clearing them will help us regain shares along with the usual rewards and items. Though judging by Nepgear's expression it's likely that the change is small, which means we have a lot of work to be doing for the next few days.' He frowned while cupping his chin with his hand, deep in thought as he began thinking up ways of speeding the process up. Though, little came to mind much to his frustration.

"… Alright," IF finished off looking at the remaining Quests before checking one of her phones for the time. It seemed that it was still late morning, approaching noon, so she figured it would be best if they would get more done today while talking small breaks in between. "Histoire likely needs more time for a proper lead to come up, so let's continue our questing for now. We can gain more shares back from ASIC that way, and it'll beef us up for the tougher ones out there." She told them, getting nods of agreement from the others, even Vent who had just snapped out of his musings.

It was Compa who followed suit, summarizing IF's reasoning for this plan, "we get to help others, and we can make Ge-Ge grow big and strong, too." She explained in simple terms, which was a positive trait in the eyes of her friends as it showed she was a simple person and required small words so she could understand everything better.

The brunette nodded her head in confirmation towards Compa, "Yeah." She smiled at her friend, before turning to Nepgear who was still looking anxious as she formed a stern expression, "and Gear, don't do what you did on the last job. While I agree with Vent in that it's all a bit of a rush for you, the plot won't move forwards if you brood around all the time." She explained, unknowingly triggering a fourth wall break.

Sometimes, Vent noticed, there were people who were avid fourth wall breakers while there were others who did it without being aware of it. With what he had observed from IF, he had deduced that she was the latter, but right now he felt that it was necessary to lighten the atmosphere and make Nepgear feel more at ease. In some ways, she's as slow as Compa was, it seemed. "O-Okay… I'll do my best!"

* * *

The rest of the day was spent either doing Quests, taking breaks to eat at local restraints or in Vent's case, training his Kagune. All the while, he would keep a close eye on Nepgear as they fought Monsters. He noticed her caution and anxiety, only fighting when needed. While it was partially her shy and timid personality at work there, Vent was no fool and he knew that her trauma was affecting her negatively.

But how could he fix that? Vent had been a vigilante for the majority of his life away from his Uncle and family, and in that time he had not once needed to console someone, and even if he had the male could only offer the exacting of revenge for the wrongfully damned. The problems he'd dealt with were much different compared to what he was facing now, and he didn't know how to deal with the issue.

What he said to Nepgear and the others had been his first attempt to fix the issue, but it seemed that his efforts had failed on that front. Nepgear had felt the weight of the situation on her shoulders, which led her to make calls more for the betterment of others than herself. In his eyes, she should have been focusing more on healing herself than helping others. How can you protect people if you can't even protect yourself? That line was said in his favourite Manga, and it definitely applied here.

That night, Vent was walking up to the elevator in the Basilicom, having just come back from a long training session, which also included finding a way to help Nepgear. He was so focused on his thoughts that he didn't notice that someone was before him till the last second. "h-huh? Oh, Histoire! Sorry, just lost in thought for a moment." He apologised, stepping back to give Histoire, who had floated over to him, some space.

The Oracle smiled at him, "it is most alright, young Vent. I received word that your work ethic has increased yet again. While happy, I do wish you could relax a little. It wouldn't do you any harm to slow down." She told him, frowning in concern at the end. It became more pronounced when she saw the conflicted look in his eyes. "Is something of a matter? You look troubled…"

'Of course, Histoire would be the one to ask me, I was able to keep it from IF and Compa but she's a whole new level when it comes to keeping secrets…' the male thought, mentally berating himself for being so careless. He'd done something he would never have wanted to do otherwise: worry someone else with his problems. It made him feel like a mix of a jerk, an asshole, and a useless wreck all at once. However, this could turn out to be good for him, maybe Histoire could share some advice on what to do here. "Well…" he began, only for the words to clump in his throat. He tried to speak, before he eventually sighed, shoulders dropping. Opening his eyes, Vent looked to the Tome with weary, concerned eyes. "Is it okay if we talk in private? I don't want to discuss this in the open like this."


	8. Chapter 8 - A talk one needs

**Chapter 8 - A talk one needs**

The two made their way up the Elevator, going to Histoire's office on one of the upper floors. The waiting and the silence was tense, at least in Vent's eyes. He was sure that, like the author, that silences were usually something of a tense nature, although there was a lack of tenseness on Histoire's face. He wasn't sure whether or not to tell her of his worries for fear that she may assume he was trying to usurp her. Aside from those few conversations he had with her on a business-like atmosphere, Vent really didn't know how else to handle the Oracle of Planeptune. Sure she had a warm, motherly aura sometimes, but usually that was covered up by her Oracle persona, so he didn't think he'd be one of the people she'd be like that towards.

They finally made their way to her Office, Vent being the gentlemen and ushering Histoire inside. After giving him a polite thank you as she floated in Vent went inside, closing the door behind him as he looked around the Office. 'Come to think of it, I haven't really seen Histoire's office all that much…' he thought to himself, realising that something like this was never really shown much, not in many fanfictions of this franchise anyways…

Fourth wall breaking aside, Vent scanned the room they were in, and found that it supported the purple, lilac and blue colours he'd seen throughout Planeptune. There was a glass wall at the back, allowing sunlight to come in on a sunny day, though right now he could see the starry sky and the moon up above. The floor itself was a dark purple colour, while the walls were a lilac one with the shade being like Nepgear's hair. There were various pictures in frames on the walls, some from local scenery in Planeptune, some of them even were the entrances to Dungeons, while the majority of them were of Nepgear and a smaller looking kid who looked similar to her. He figured that would be Neptune, Nepgear's older sister and the CPU of Planeptune.

"Please, have a seat. I'll have some tea ready in a moment."

"No need for that, Mrs Histoire, I just want to talk about something that happened today and its aftermath."

Frowning at the concern in Vent's voice, Histoire floated over to him as he sat down on one of the chairs at the side of the room, the ones for guests who she had yet to speak with as she would be focusing on the one in front of her. "I understand. Tell me, what is it that troubles you?" she asked him.

Looking up at her, Vent stared into her eyes for a few moments, almost as if he were trying to find the answer within those blue orbs that only held concern and a growing confusion. Eventually, he broke his gaze with a sigh, and looked down. "it's Nepgear. I'm worried she may buckle under the pressure." He finally admitted before he waited for the response she would give.

The male didn't have to wait long though, as Histoire's expression morphed to one of understanding, like a fog had been lifted from over her eyes. "Ahhh, I see… you would be right to worry. It is only natural for one to worry over another's safety. Nepgear is a strong girl, though. Despite what she seems like personality wise, I'm sure she will pull through." She told him, trying to console the male with a hand on his shoulder.

It didn't work however, as his sadness seemed to increase, "that's just it Histoire." He began, putting his hands together and intertwining his fingers with each other. "Back home I was a vigilante. I'm sure that IF told you such way back when I first started out in this world. And as a Vigilante I killed more people than I saved, but there were those I saved. And from those people I couldn't offer them much, just the promise that I would exact their vengeance. But here, I've come to see that my methods won't work, those girls don't desire one person dead, they just want to rescue the CPUs from Gamindustri Graveyard. I can understand that, hell I'm all for helping that, but the truth is, I don't know how much I can be of help in other matters."

He unfumbled his hands, looking up at Histoire whose eyes shot open wide when she noticed the full extent of the haunted expression on his face. "I tried to apply my logic today, but it didn't work exactly as I thought. Nepgear's aware of the stakes which is good in its own way, but it's also pressurising her to the point where I fear she may break, and I hate being unable to do anything for her. I'm a Vigilante, I protect the innocent and punish the Guilty. I should be able to help someone in need, but in this case I don't know how."

Removing her hand from his shoulder, the Oracle began to think on what she had just heard. She could tell he had been putting a lot of thought into this situation by how he was acting. Also the heavier scent of sweat indicated higher levels of distress, which further proved her theory about him. And what he said was both alarming and concerning, especially the vigilante part. There must have been a reason why he would do such a dangerous job of taking the law into his own hands, but for now she decided not to pry.

There was a bigger issue at large here.

Here was someone who was so far out of their comfort zone it was comparable to the level of anxiety one with claustrophobia in a tight box would feel. Histoire could tell that he was tearing himself apart on the inside for feeling so helpless, and that Vent wasn't used to this feeling. It seemed almost alien to him, to not know how to approach a problem that needed to be solved.

"Nepgear's will is easily breakable…" she began after thinking for a while. The male, whose head had hung low during her mental monologue, raised up to look at her again, wondering where she was going to take this. "She is a shy, timid girl who was sheltered by both me and Neptune, which limits her self-confidence. There will be times were she will falter in the future, times where you will wish to help her further, and when those times come, remember this: As long as she has people she can depend on if she falls, then Nepgear will keep rising up to meet the challenges ahead."

Vent listened to her words, and admitted to himself that they held merit, but there was a problem he found in her logic, "relying on others is good an all, but what Nepgear needs is a means to believe in herself, she needs her own centre. I know it may sound arrogant coming from someone like me who doesn't know her very well, nor for long, but I can tell that she has little faith in her own abilities. It's like she's unaware of the potential sleeping inside her, and it saddens me to see that."

Histoire nodded at his words, "I know, I see her potential as well. I may not show it to most, but I do share your feelings about Nepgear's mental health. Your right, she could do with some self-confidence but what she really wants is to be accepted." She told him, making him raise a brow.

"Acceptance?"

"Yes. Nepgear's sheltered upbringing has made her very lonely, and she wants to have friends like a normal girl. Its why she is so socially awkward and why she was so shy upon meeting you for the first time. She just didn't know how to talk to others very well, least of all boys. I am a bit embarrassed to say that me and Neptune made sure boys stayed away from her." She admitted bashfully at the end. Vent could only chuckle at the protectiveness that the two apparently had over the CPU Candidate, but couldn't fault them. He'd be the same in their shoes.

The male then thought on her words earlier, "So your telling me that… Nepgear's recovery depends on her being accepted by others?" he asked her, frowning. That didn't sound good at all, not to him anyways. Self-reliance was one of the first things he'd learned when his Uncle died, and he had gotten on in life fine without anyone to support him. He struggled long and hard for what he had, and look at how he turned out? He turned out okay, which lead to him not understanding the value of other people willing to offer a helping hand.

"Yes. I know it sounds cliché, but having friends around does help you. Believe me, it will do a world of good for her if you just stick to what you have been doing and support her. You can do it Vent, I know you can. No other man has done what you have, you managed to earn the girls' trust with hard work and dedication, you joined in the fight against ASIC, something that normal citizens wouldn't do without an incentive, yet you only wish to save the CPUs."

…

…

…

…

…

Vent gaped at her, speechless with his eyes wider than saucers. How could he not, when he had just received the first ever set of compliments for his achievements in his entire life? Since he'd grown up alone thanks to his Uncle and family, Vent hadn't known what it was like to have someone support you, to have an anchor to rely on to back you up. He had gotten on just fine on his own, learning about subjects that normal kids wouldn't even begin to understand and making his way through life through never-say-die spirit.

But right now, for the first time, he was experiencing that support from the Oracle of Planeptune, and he didn't know how to react to it at first. Since he hadn't encountered something like this before, Vent needed to examine and calculate the pros and cons, learn everything he could. Relying on others was almost alien to him, so he would have to think on this.

Nevertheless, he could tell that her words had an effect on him as his mind had become calmer, he didn't feel as stressed or worried anymore. It was still there at the back of his mind, but it had been significantly weakened compared to before.

A small smile formed on the male's lips, the light of life ad carefree spirit returning to his eyes as he stood up. "Thanks Histoire, thanks to for talking to me. I feel a lot better thanks to you." He gratefully said to her, giving the small woman a respectful bow.

Happy she was that she had helped him regain his confidence about helping Nepgear, Histoire smiled at him with her hands on her lap, "you do not need to thank me, I am happy to help you at any time you wish. You need only ask, and I'll be there."

* * *

Later that night, Vent was on top of the Basilicom, looking up at the starry skies while lying on his back. He played the conversation between him and the Oracle over and over in his head, isolating every bit of knowledge and trying to decipher what Histoire's end game was. He had been thinking about it for what felt like hours after he had returned to his room and left Histoire alone to her own thoughts. Whenever he had something on his mind, Vent would find it impossible to get some sleep over it, so he would try to solve it until he as either successful or too tired to do so.

From what he could gather, Histoire was trying to tell him that Nepgear required support from others to help her get over her trauma. The idea itself was an alien concept to someone like him, who had not relied on anyone before in his lifetime, only relying and trusting himself. But Nepgear wasn't like him, and he was painfully aware of that, she seemed to lack the self-confidence, the spirit to survive the harshest conditions with nothing but her own intelligence and mental fortitude. So maybe she could draw this from the faith others had in her?

He didn't understand that logic at all, not one bit.

'Relying on others…I it seems to be something that these people are well aware of… so why can't I get my head around it?' Vent narrowed his eyes as he stared up the skies above, the moon shining brightly like it was the only source of light in a dark, cold world. He could see that actually, the moon was the biggest star in the skies thanks to it being so close to the world of Gamindustri, and his world Earth as well.

Raising his hand, Vent brought it so that it went over his face, its shadow darkening the male's face as he stared at it. "To rely on someone seems so strange to me… but if it's something that'll help Nepgear recover herself… then perhaps that is all that I need to get right now."

Still though, this topic was still confusing the hell out of him, to the point that he could barely get any other thoughts out. Perhaps he could look into other forms of information for advice on what it was like. Vent didn't need it himself, just wanted to understand it for future event, and so he could properly help Nepgear.

* * *

3 days passed since Vent and the others completed their first series of quests. 3 days since Histoire talked to him about relying on others to help you with your problems, though he had come no closer to understanding why that would help their CPU Candidate. Though he made sure not to let his confusion show on his face.

They spent the majority of the time questing and grinding whenever Quests weren't available. Vent trained his Kagune so that he could use it to climb buildings, refining his control over it so that his level of control was rivalling that of Kaneki Ken, the One Eyed King of the Ghouls. He still had a bit of training left to go, especially with his most recent discovery about it, his Rinkaku by the way.

He'd discovered that it had a similar ability to Ghoul Noro's Bikaku Kagune, with its ability to form mouths that it could use to digest the flesh of his enemies. He'd discovered it during some private grinding time, and so far he hadn't shown it to his companions. Though in the manga after devouring Eto's Kakuja Kaneki also gained this ability along with the forming of eyes on his Kagune, although he wasn't sure if Kaneki had the detaching ability. Then again, in the Manga he did detach a few Tentacles one time during his fight with Arima in his third Kakuja.

As for Nepgear, it was a pro that she hadn't lost it like she did on their first quest, although as she kept going she got progressively better. She began to show more courage as time passed by, getting more and more involved with battling monsters. It seemed that Histoire's words rang true, that she was slowly recovering from her trauma due to having people she was supported by, much to his confusion. Nevertheless, Vent was glad she was healing from what happened to her, it made him smile seeing her regaining what she once had. It filled him with satisfaction, even made his inner vigilante sing with joy knowing that an innocent was healing from the heartaches that plagued her soul.

If this could just keep on going for a bit longer then Vent would be a happy dude.

In current times, the group were discussing what to do next in the Basilicom's main hall. IF was suggesting they take a break and gather some items for their quests while Vent wanted to keep on hunting monsters or train his skills. The male also noticed that their CPU Candidate was taking a back seat right now, watching along with Compa while they quarrelled. Well, it was more like a calm argument, as they were both explaining why they wanted to go their specific routes and highlighting the pros and cons of their routes. It was a great show of respect and comradeship, calmly talking with a fellow soldier without having to raise one's voice and start a shouting match, both of them could understand each other's reasoning and were respectful enough to see things from each other's point of view.

IF wanted to gather some items because there was a rising demand for gathering quests, and not enough hunting ones, due to monsters attacking trade routes ad well as ASIC extorting their goods for themselves. She reasoned that if they got more gathering quests they would gain the bigger amount of Shares for their cause, making it harder for ASIC to regain them.

Meanwhile, Vent would argue that hunting Monsters was what people also wanted, that if there were less monsters about then the trade routes wouldn't be as endangered, leading to more items available and less gathering quests. He reasoned that Hunting monsters satisfied the people, but he also agreed with her point that this would give ASIC more leeway to extort people but wouldn't budge on his resolve.

While they quarrelled, Nepgear and Compa watched on, "those two are sure going at it." Nepgear muttered, fumbling with her hands as she watched them. She was surprised they hadn't come to blows yet, this argument felt more like a calm yet mildly heated debate on what to do next. "Though, I guess it makes sense, both of them are quite good at what they do, and have a lot of respect for each other."

Compa nodded her head in agreement with the Candidate, "yep, Ven-Ven and Iffy get along very well. Though in the beginning she didn't trust him all that much because of his gender, she eventually came to like him as much as I do." She explained, smiling innocently while unaware of what she sounded like she was saying, "now both of them are the best of pals, like Nep-Nep and you, Ge-Ge."

"Huh? This is the first I've heard of this. Was IF really that bad?" Nepgear asked, turning her gaze away from the mentioned brunette to the cream haired nurse in training. She knew that IF didn't like boys very much, but still she didn't think it would have been that bad.

The other girl put a finger on her chin as she thought of how to word it. "Hmmm… it was more like a small distaste, Iffy respected him a little when they first met because he saved us in the Graveyard, soloing that meanie robot. I think she was just jealous he managed to do what we were doing for years in only a single day. Though, I heard that she and Ven-Ven talked and settled their differences one night, and now she really likes him." Compa had not got all the details from her brunette friend, as the Guild Agent refused to elaborate more than that, but it was enough to fill the blank spaces.

"Everyone, everyone!" the loud cry of a certain Oracle drew their attention. Vent and IF stopped their arguing to look at Histoire as she floated on her book towards them from the Elevator, while Compa and Nepgear paused their conversation, noticing the urgent expression on her face and her slight dishevelled appearance. "Ah, there you all are, I've been looking for you."

Vent raised a brow at her, curious on why she looked like she had run a marathon in Earth's Sahara Desert, "hey Histoire, so what's up with you? Not to be rude, but you don't look so good."

"I've found it! I've found the location of Planeptune's Mascot."

"Wow, you serious?" Vent asked her in surprise. 'Wait it's been 3 days since Histoire began her research… now it makes sense. Since I was so focused on Nepgear's mental state I forgot that it takes 3 Days, months, weeks or whatever for her to do something.' He rationalised, sweat dropping at the emergence of one of Histoire's quirks once again. "Where is it?"

After collecting herself and making herself look at least a little more presentable, the Planeptune Oracle breathed slightly, nodding in confirmation of her discovery as she replied, "You will find the Mascot in the Depths of Virtua forest; I believe that the Mascot is hibernating there."

'Seriously? We've been there more times than we can count and THAT's where it's been? Small world…'

While Vent was mentally processing the fact that the Mascot had been hibernating right under their noses, IF had a confident grin on her face, her ideas for the Gathering quests now on the backburner. They had ample credits and supplies anyways thanks to Vent and Compa working together to manage what they spent on health and energy replenishing items. Heck, eve Nepgear had a hand in that due to having experience in money matters thanks to her being the CPU Candidate of Planeptune. "Oh good, now it feels like we're finally starting up again. Let's roll everybody!"

* * *

With that call to arms, the group proceeded to head to the exit. Vent glanced at Nepgear, noticing that she was still concerned by the look on her face, and knew she was thinking about how the pressure had increased for her. Although, compared to before she looked much better, more at ease than back then. Perhaps all that questing and confidence building was paying off? Still, he would have to keep an eye on her, just to make sure.

Apparently he wasn't the only one who noticed because Compa had asked her about her condition herself, concerned for her friend. Nepgear had hurriedly regained her composure though, assuring her that she was alright. Vent began to wonder as they made their way to the exit to the outside world, was this the 'relying on others' thing that Histoire was telling him about? Huh, he'd have to look into that at some point.

The walk to Virtua Forest Depths was a longer one compared to the one to the Forest itself. The depths had their own path that separated from the main part where they had done monster Quests before. In fact, despite the number of quests they did, none of them had been in this part of the forest, most of them were at either the main part of the Forest or a desolate, abandoned factory called 'Darkness factory' or something along those lines.

When they arrived, the male took the opportunity to examine the area thoroughly in case of an attack. There were a series of tall trees all around, making a dense wilderness and were taller than anything he'd seen yet. There was this fog below them that hid their bases while there were a series of futuristic looking platforms connected by matching bridges for navigation purposes. He could smell various monsters in the area, but none of them were particularly threatening, save for one that smelled like some form of Canine. Also, before they came here IF had suggested they accept the Quests related to this Dungeon that had made themselves available, which they did. Most of them were easy, kill a few monsters and get a few requested items, though one of them involved that Canine, that 'Fenrisulfr' as it was called.

Combined with their mission to retrieve the Mascot… yep, they were going to have a fun time here.

"Is the Mascot here…?" Nepgear wondered as she looked around the Dungeon, eyeing everything just like Vent had seen although she didn't have all the opinions he did from his Ghoulish senses. She felt a shiver travel up her spine, and instantly she knew there was something different about this place. She didn't know why but something just told her, her instincts perhaps, that this Dungeon wasn't like the others.

There were multiple paths that they could take, which Compa decided to capitalise on before anyone else could, "which way do we go first?" she asked them, turning to IF and Vent for their opinion. In her eyes, they were the brains of the group, while Nepgear and Vent were the powerhouses they had. One of them was a Goddess, albeit a Goddess Candidate, while the other had abilities no other human possessed, making him more badass and scary than the average person.

"Hmmm…" IF hummed to herself, wondering what path to take as well. She could see a lack of differences between the bridges, and with her lack of exploring this Dungeon IF wasn't sure how to proceed. Then, she noticed several plant like monsters, ones with the nametag 'Tulip' over their heads. She would have disregarded them as weaklings, had she not noticed something… off about their behaviour, the way they walked, it was like they were simply corpses still moving, swaying from side to side like they were about to fall over from walking for so long. Her eyes widened however when she saw their eyes, which were starting to gain a beady red colour, "Crap, don't move! Those monsters are acting off!"

The others looked to her strangely save for Vent, whose eyes narrowed sharply as he too noticed the same things that she had. They then shot open when each one was encased in a white light with black electricity that had purple outlines. When it died down, their colour schemes were more sinister and twisted, like they were an offspring of hell itself. "What the fuck?!"

"Whoa, did they just…!" Nepgear gasped, jumping in fright at the new visage these tulips possessed. They each growled and hissed at them like rabid animals about to go on a blood rage. It sent child down her spine and reminded her of the Kakugan that Vent possessed, which when she looked at him, was already activated as the male had gotten into his combat stance, his Ring having transformed into his Scythe.

IF scowled at the situation while summoning her Qatars for the upcoming battle. She noticed that Compa had done the same as him with regards to summoning her Syringe into her waiting hands. "As I thought. Monsters are vulnerable to the Deity of Sin's influence, considering how many Shares ASIC has. When monsters are tainted with it, they transform into a more vicious state, like we just saw. They hadn't been doing so since Vent came to this world, but looks like lady luck can't hold out forever." She explained to the confused Nepgear, whose eyes widened in shock at that information. Vent's did the opposite as he thought about this knowledge, 'if this influence can transform monsters like this, then it can likely create new ones as well. We may just have an explanation for those new Monsters that Nepgear said the CPUs encountered in the Graveyard.'

"It's called going Viral!"

That was said by Compa, who looked more serious now that they had these foes to deal with. She was clutching her Syringe tighter, a sign that she was either nervous or scared, likely the former since if she was scared then she wouldn't have gone near the Gamindustri Graveyard with IF to save their CPUs.

"Viral…" Nepgear muttered under her breath as she looked at the group of Tulips. Heck, she saw that their nametags had changed from their original white bold writing to a black with purple blood scheme. They also had a different name, 'Viral Tulip' with this new colour scheme.

IF saw her troubled expression and quickly realised what would happen if she delved further into her fears, "They're more powerful after their transformation, so keep your guard up everyone! Look out, here they come!"

The first attack was launched at them via one of the Tulips opening its head like it was unravelling bandages. In the next moment, a flurry of black seeds with purple thrusters were launched at the like missiles. "Spread out!" the group quickly did that, rolling to one side as they did their best to dodge the missile seeds, which gave the other Viral Tulips time to attack in unison.

Compa got up first to fire several rounds, slowing their advance enough for the others to recover. Vent ran at one of them, avoiding its tackle by flipping into the air like as sausage before slashing with his Scythe at its back. The Viral Tulip stumbled forwards at the attack, before growling and unravelling its head again, only for several black Tendrils to lash out towards him. "Oh fuck!"

"Language!"

"Hey, fuck that shit!"

While IF playfully teased Vent over the sounds of her Qatars slicing at the enemy, Nepgear rushed one from the sides, going for a horizontal slash. The Viral Tulip however blocked it by deploying its Tendrils, before they thrashed around wildly and smacked her to the ground, "kyaa!" she cried out as she hit. But she couldn't stay idle for long as she had to roll sideways to avoid the Tendrils when they tried to impale her from above. Rolling to her feet, Nepgear raised her sword to block several slash attacks.

On Vent's side, the male was regarding his foes, 2 Viral Tulips with a critical stare. 'IF wasn't kidding these fuckers hit hard…' he thought to himself, his mismatched eyes narrowing deeply. 'I can use my Rinkaku to deflect their Tendrils, then I'll hit em with my Scythe as its gun mode would be useless since the rounds would just be deflected.'

With that plan in mind, Vent nodded to himself before leaning forwards, his Scythe ready for a slash when he felt something. An explosive heat erupted in the shoulder areas, making him gasp and nearly lost his balance. 'Wh-what the fuck, where did this pain come from?!' he exclaimed mentally, the pain increasing each second. It was getting difficult to remain standing at this point.

The Viral Tulips saw this and quickly capitalised on this new opportunity by charging at him with the intent of tackling him to the ground and eating him. Vent slowly stood straight again as he readied his Scythe, only for the pain to focus more on his shoulders than anywhere else on his body. The faint feeling of something breaking out his skin was registered by his brain, and his eyes widened even more when he felt something shoot out, the pain being taken along with it.

Whatever it was, it acted fast, swiping through the air and slicing through multiple Viral Tulips with ease. The remaining ones jumped back, their improved instincts telling them that the boy had gotten even deadlier than he already was. Vent heaved and gasped as he began to regain his breathing and composure, slowly standing upright as he looked around, noticing that the fighting had paused with everyone staring at him in shock. "What?"

"Uhhh…"

"Um, I don't know how to break it to you, Ven-Ven, but…"

"What the goodness, where did those come from?!"

Nepgear's shouting made him glance behind him, realising that something had grown itself out of his shoulders and must have been something big if it could cause this kind of reaction. He soon saw why they were so stunned, as protruding from the backs of his shoulders were a pair of large wings. They looked more like arms, with black flesh and red bone, but could function as both, as they just witnessed.

'What the… an Ukaku?!' Vent exclaimed in his mind. It wasn't like any he'd seen in the Manga of Tokyo Ghoul that was for sure! The Wiki had said they were usually made from a mass of red feathers like Touka Kirishima's Kagune. There were some exceptions though like Eto and Yoshimura's being more like a Koukaku than the norm. It seemed that his Ukaku was a similar exception to the rule. 'Now, according to the Wiki the Ukaku Ghouls have enhanced speed and can strike deadly blows. However, on the other hand they have low stamina and their Kagune drained that small stamina quickly. In that case…'

Looking down at the ground with his upper body facing towards the ground, Vent began to come up with plans and ideas, the likes of which were intriguing him more and more by the second. 'I'm seeing some interesting possibilities here… if I remember correctly Hinami Fueguchi was also a dual type, but a Koukaku was her second Kagune type not a Rinkaku, which makes me someone whose well suited to high speed combat. Alright then… let's see how this fucking goes!'

Instinctually fearing him more than the girls at the moment,

Flaring his Ukaku, Vent tried to figure out how they launched their Shards. Several prickling sensations were felt throughout his new Kagune, and in the next moment a hailstorm of crimson Shards were fired upon the Viral Tulips. They did their best to deflect them with their Tendrils, but there were too many Shards and all of them were lethally sharp. They were meant to pierce though the hides of other Ghouls after all, so this would make sense. Their Tendrils were sliced to ribbons, and the Viral Tulips soon followed in the fate that the Tendrils suffered,

Stopping the barrage, Vent looked up and observed his handiwork. His jaw would have dropped to the floor if it weren't hinged onto his mouth at the damage his Shards did. "Holy shit…" he muttered, pupils shaking as he stared at the carnage before him, there were remains of the Viral tulips all over the area, with many holes and craters scattered all over the place where they originally occupied. Cracks and fissures were made from the sliding parts of their bodies, while the Shards themselves were either impaling the ground or lying upon it. They began to disintegrate soon enough like in the anime, but that wasn't important to the male.

What he was focusing on was the damage his Ukaku did… and he barely felt a tinge of drainage on his stamina reserves. A wide, blood thirsty grin broke out onto his face with his eyes gleaming with a similar manner. "ohoho… I'mma so gonna have fun with this…" he muttered, chuckling darkly under his breath as his Ukaku flared and his Rinkaku retracted itself back to him, keeping the Tentacles poised in a position reminiscent to a Spider prepared to pounce.

Meanwhile, the girls had witnessed what Vent's new Kagune had done, and were in several states of disbelief alongside a dosage of shock and awe. What they had seen… well, let's just say the chance something like this would happen was 1 in 1000. Such destructive power was meant usually for those of high level or the CPUs themselves. But, what was Vent? He wasn't a normal human, that was for sure, because in their eyes…

There was the faint silhouette looming above him, a silhouette shaped like something that could only be described as… insidious.

His Kagune disintegrating back into his body, Vent turned to the others, noticing their state of shock and disbelief. The male tilted his head in confusion, why were they so shocked? Was it because of his new Kagune? That was the most likely reason he had right now, hell he was still in disbelief himself that he had something like this, a dual type Kagune. Noticing the tension in the air, the male made to break the ice by starting a conversation, "so uh… that happened."

This served to send the girls back into the real world, their eyes blinking several times as they were pulled from their own thought processes. "Yeah… it did." IF replied, she wasn't sure what to say right now, but there was one thing on her mind, something that was referring to what he had told them about him being a Half Ghoul, "I'm going on a whim here and assume that was an Ukaku Kagune you just used." She asked him, but it sounded more like a statement than a question needing an answer.

Vent nodded, confirming IF's suspicions as he frowned and crossed his arms under his chest, "no idea how I wasn't aware, but it seems I have a dual Kagune." He replied, his Kakugan returning to a normal eye.

"Huh… well that's something."

"Ven-Ven's becoming stronger every day."

"Goodness… that was really nerve wracking…"

The trio of girls, starting from the Guild Agent and ending with the Candidate, all stated their opinions about the reveal of Vent's newest Kagune. The male then shook his head as he turned his gaze towards where the Monsters had been, his eyes narrowing into a suspicious stare, "that aside, do you guys think it's a coincidence that the ASIC's Deity influenced these monsters right now?"

"What do you mean?" Nepgear asked while the other two went into frowns of their own. Unlike their friend, they knew close hand that Vent's observation and deduction skills were second to none, almost rivalling that of that one detective, Sherlock-or something along those lines. If he knew something they didn't, chances were that it was significant.

Vent decided to showcase his findings into words for the CPU Candidate, "well, when we first came here those monsters were walking right towards us when typical monster behaviour would be to charge at us in a rush. Usually that ends up in failure but still that's their attack pattern. Hell, even beforehand they were acting strange, so what I'm suggesting is that we may not just be fighting ASIC by itself, I believe that somehow, their Deity is able to target which monster to taint with its influence in order to keep us from our goal. And if that's indeed the case, then we have to get to the Mascot quick."

IF paused to consider this information. "While farfetched, we are talking about a formless deity after all. It would make sense for her to have abilities that the original series never made known to the gamers. It would explain why despite having fought so many monsters, none of them went Viral until this EXACT moment. It does feel like someone's watching us, so the theory Vent gave has some merit."

Compa shuddered, holding her shoulders with her hands as she imagined being watched over by an angry, malevolent deity like the Deity of Sin. "That's really uncomforting to think about. If that were true, then she'd already know what we're doing before even we knew." She remarked.

The male shook his head before clearing his throat to get their attention. "It's just a theory so don't worry about it too much. Right now we should focus all our attention on the task at hand: getting to that damn Mascot. If ASIC finds it before we do, then we're fucked, so let's get moving, people!" all of them nodded in agreement with a unified "yeah!" before they made their way inside the Depths of Virtua Forest. None of them would anticipate the horrors that lay within, however.


	9. Chapter 9 - Underling a- oh shit!

**Chapter 9 - Underling a- Oh, shit!**

The Party navigated through the new Dungeon, clearing the quests that they needed to do by hunting the monsters that had the items they would need. They were basically small fry to them, but it offered exp and battle experience for the girls, while Vent made sure he was training in his new Ukaku Kagune, utilising its multiple forms fo attack, both its ranged and its close combat version. Unlike the Ukaku that Touka or Ayato used, his Ukaku didn't need to shift between forms, for his Kagune had a mix between arm and wing. he could use them as wings or as secondary claws to slash at his opponents, making it a worthy addition to his arsenal.

One quest proved to be more difficult than the others though, and that was the one where they had to kill a Fenrisulfr to satisfy someone's vengeance. It was a tough cookie, with high speed and attack power, with its endurance being nothing to scoff at either. It took a combination of Nepgear's 'Mirage Dance' skill and his Ukaku to take it down, as IF's Demon Flames Skill was useless against it due to it having fire resistance, to finally take it down, but even then they had to spend a short time resting to recover from their experience. Of course Vent refused to neglect his Rinkaku, utilising it in various forms to capture or bait his prey into the girls' lines of fire.

Despite this… setback, the party managed to reach the end of the Dungeon. Vent could feel it, there was a major concentration energy in the atmosphere, and immediately he knew that the Mascot was close by. But if his earlier hunch was correct, ASIC would be here too. Hopefully they didn't send anyone they couldn't handle, that would be embarrassing.

"Is that it, over there?" IF asked while pointing towards where she could see something glowing in the distance. Vent looked there as well as the others, soon noticing what she did, confirming to themselves that it was indeed what they were looking for when they saw the faint shape of a Disk inside the glow.

Compa went and voiced their collective thoughts though, "Yessie, it is! Wait… someone's already there." She remarked, and true to her word there was indeed someone there right bedside the Disk. It was too far away to tell for sure though so the party went and got closer.

As they did so, they heard sounds of metal colliding against metal, which confused the CPU male member of the Party, "what is that sound… it's almost like…" his eyes widened and his face paled, "oh, shit! YOU THERE, STOP IT!" he shouted when he realised what was happening. Someone was trying to shatter the Mascot Disk, it was evident by how the person had been raising a pipe-like weapon and bringing it down on the Disk repeatedly.

"What the Goodness?! PLEASE STOP!" Nepgear called out, having at first been confused as to why Vent had reacted like that, but the pieces soon clicked into place within her mind and she quickly took to using the same demeanour as he did.

The person, having heard their words and realised that they weren't alone, stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the new arrivals, obviously surprised to see other people here. "Huh? Who the hell are you three? You better stay outta my way, kids. And where the heck did you find a male here, is he your sex slave or summat?" the person was a young girl, similar in stature to Nepgear, wearing a grey jumpsuit with the hood over her green hair and red slanted eyes. The hood eerily reminded them of a mouse with the mouse ears and nose on I, while the suit itself was tucked into a pair of black boots on her feet and a pair of black gloves with red palms on her hands. It was worn open to expose her upper body, which was practically bare save for a black tube top with X shaped strings in the middle and a piece of a heart on each side, reminiscent of a broken heart. In her hand she carried a black and dark brown pipe, obviously the weapon she was using to break the mascot.

"Likewise, missy!" Compa retorted hotly. She was NOT pleased to see what she just saw right now and neither was any of the others. IF was gritting her teeth and flexing her hands in a way that made it seem she was holding an invisible weapon, while Vent himself was struggling not to unleash his Kagune to rip this person apart. "What are you doing to the Mascot!?"

The girl before them scoffed while rolling her eyes, finding that to be a stupid question. And in hindsight it was, considering they had just witnessed her repeatedly bringing her Pipe down on it earlier. "Uh, destroying it, duh." She replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Orders from ASIC. They're a nuisance." She said, pointing her Pipe to the Mascot, which, fortunately enough, didn't look that damaged yet.

'If that's the case then she obviously hasn't been here long.' Vent thought to himself, grinding his teeth together while struggling to keep himself from going ape shit on her ass. The word ASIC told him that she was with them, and it reminded him of the captured CPUs, pissing him off even more. But he had to keep his cool, otherwise he would be a liability, and that was something Vent could not allow.

However, IF had no such problems in hiding her distaste for the organisation, so she spoke for him as otherwise this would go a COMPLETELY different route than they would expect, and not the good kind either. "So you're a member of ASIC then?" she asked her, while glancing over to Vent as she thought, 'that means that his earlier theory may have more merit than we realise. If their deity is actively helping them, then rescuing them will be even more difficult.'

Oblivious, and not really caring, about their thoughts, the girl allowed a small smirk to form on her lips, "heh, like I got any reason to explain myself to you, but…" she began to think to herself for a moment, before coming to a decision and raising her voice to get their attention, not that she hadn't already. "alright listen up!" She then struck a pose, one which should have looked intimidating, but in reality… it looked kinda stupid. She had her Pipe over her shoulders while her other hand was over one portion over her face, as if to shadow it from the world. "I'm a proud and mighty member of ASIC's front-line infantry, and don't you forget it!"

'Her words make her seem dumber than that pose…' Vent mused to himself, before he decided to make his thoughts known. Wasn't like he had any respect for this person anyways, since she worked for that loathsome organisation, "So in layman's terms your basically an Underling. The bottom of the barrel. The cannon fodder." Vent mocked with a small smirk, his dark amusement shining through.

"Wha-?!" she gasped, her eyes wide as she dropped the pose in her shock. The girl, or Underling as she would be called now, growled as she glared at him, but the moment she was going to reply, Underling was cut off by the others.

IF crossed her arms, a knowing gleam in her eye that she aimed at Vent before she returned her gaze to Underling and jumped onto the bandwagon, sort of speak. "Ah, I see… so your just one of their expendable underlings, that's easy to grasp." She remarked with similar amusement. At this point Underling was gritting her teeth in anger, but the train didn't stop there.

"Definitely an Underling." Nepgear's bluntness and her usual personality made her comment to be even more powerful, an imaginary arrow going through Underling's body with the bold words 'wrecked like Donkey Kong' across it. There was also an undertone of pity, which made it even sadder and more impactful.

The worst one came from Compa though, surprisingly enough. "Mrs Underling is definitely an Underling." She said happily with a bright innocent smile. She ended the trail of insults, and by this point Underling was steaming mad, no literally she was red-faced with steam coming off the top of her head.

"What?!" she shrieked like a Banshee, and if looks could kill she would have killed them a thousand times over at this point. "Where do you kids get off calling me an Underling, huh?!" Underling growled like a feral animal about to go on a rampage, but the insults didn't end there, no they only got worse and were said by the most hurtful person of all, at least to Underling.

Nepgear hummed to herself, "if she's an Underling, then maybe I could fight her." The way she said it made it seem that Underling was truly at the bottom of the food chain, along with that hopeful/pitying gaze of hers. Vent had to cover his mouth to hide the 'oh snap, you just got wrecked!' line that was about to escape his lips. 'Damn, Nepgear's got claws, and she doesn't even realise it!'

Finally, the band within her mind snapped and Underling roared in rage, "graah! Underling, Underling that!" she growled with the words she was using being uttered like they were poisonous to her, and in this case they likely were… to her pride, that is. "Enough already, you brats!"

Despite her warnings and that she looked like she was ready to blow at any second, Vent just couldn't resist taunting her anymore, "uh, since you look like you're the same or matching age as us, aren't you just calling yourself a brat? You don't need to roast us because you do a pretty good job of roasting yourself." Yeah, he doesn't like ANYONE who works with ASIC, be it male or female. He may have a respect for women more than males at this point, but it wouldn't stop him from giving them a piece of his mind when the situation called for it.

And right now was the perfect time for it.

Once again, IF added on her comments to the situation before her, "Underling's the only name you'll need, Underling," she said with a narrowed gaze and a hand on her hip. She placed more stress on the second mentioning of Underling, before making a dismissive wave, "now beat it."

Compa just added icing on the cake, and she didn't even seem aware of what she was doing either which only made it impact more, "could you please move out of our way Mrs Underling?" she asked politely while also insulting Underling at the same time.

"That's it! Now you've really pissed me off! You'll regret calling me that!" she gripped her Pipe and bent her legs, before charging forwards. The rate of speed she went at was surprising, even to Vent, but instincts saved him as he quickly jumped backwards, but that couldn't be said for the girls.

Nepgear cried out, "Kyaaaa!" as she and the others were hit by Underling. She had been first with a smack to the head, and IF came next when she tried to roundhouse kick her only to suffer a poke to the abdomen and then a whack to the head knocking her down and disorienting her. Compa was last as Underling tripped her up and slammed her Pipe onto her back, sending her down to the ground with a smash.

Turning towards Vent, the green haired girl growled as she charged at him, the male quickly cracking his index finger before turning his Ring into Scythe form and blocking her initial strike to his head. She aimed a kick to his abdomen but the male hopped back and spun into a reverse slash to her chest. She blocked it with her Pipe, but the strength of the blow was enough to send her sliding backwards a couple metres.

Vent quickly switched his weapon to Gun mode, aiming the cannon at her and firing his usual rounds. Underling though managed to jump from side to side in a zigzagging motion to get back the distance she had lost, for Vent to block her Pipe with his Gun when she got close. He was faster in his response than her though, as he swiftly twisted his body and launched a kick to her side, which connected and sent her flying.

As she landed on all fours, Underling looked up at her opponent, who had switched his weapon to Scythe mode and was getting into a combat stance. Despite the rage towards him she was feeling, Underling couldn't help but let out an excited smirk, "you're not half bad for a dude." She remarked, getting to her feet. "Haven't seen this before, a guy managing to dodge my attacks while the heroines are knocked down in a single slash."

"Oh don't you worry, I'mma make you pay for that, I swear." Vent replied, but like Underling he too ignored the rage building in him for the bloodlust-filled smirk that was forming on his own lips. On a savage level, he enjoyed combat, more so than he normally did. He figured that it was his Ghoul side since the Ghoul was an animalistic creature by nature, one built to hunt its own kind and grow stronger from it. Vent could feel it struggling, screeching as it tried to get to the surface, to fuel the hunger it had that was sated only through 2 things: battle, and the other? Well…

Let's just say it's not something one would readily admit.

* * *

While the two charged at each other and began to fight, the girls were reeling from their injuries. IF groaned as she pushed her torso up with one forearm for support, her other arm being used to hold her throbbing head. "Geez, how is she this powerful?" she wondered, groaning as she felt an uncomfortable sensation in her mind. "And how does Vent have the power to stand up to her?"

"Do you think it's because ASIC has so many of this area's shares?" Compa wondered, while mentally applying a healing Skill to her back. It still stung which made it harder to focus, but she was able to manage. When her brain registered the second question IF had asked, she looked at the battle and tried to think of another solution, "It could be because Ven-Ven came from another world? Maybe those powers he has helps."

Nepgear could only watch in awe at the battle-taking place before her very eyes. She had trouble following their movements, both Underling and Vent were moving so fast that they looked like blurs, only stopping to block or parry an attack before moving on again. It looked to be an even fight, with Vent's skillset and versatility with his weapon matching the power boost that Underling had because of the share difference. 'This battle… feels so much like the one we had in the Graveyard…' she thought, remembering with a shudder how Vent literally solo'd that scary robot that would have crushed them either way. And he wasn't even using those strange wings or Tentacles yet, sticking to close combat with his Scythe or that Gun mode. However, trouble was not far behind them.

Horror settled into Vent's heart when he saw Underling deflect one of his shots with her Pipe, the damn thing was stronger than he realised. Thus, he had made a stronger shot with his weapon in Gun mode. Unfortunately, it was deflected but that wasn't the only problem here. The shot was deflected toward a stiffened Nepgear, who was not able to move in time to avoid the attack. "No, Nepgear!"

"Watch out!" IF cried as she quickly pushed her aside, before getting hit by the blast herself. "Gaaaah!" she screamed in pain, feeling like she had been hit by the full powered fist of an Ancient Dragon as she was sent flying to the edge of the Platform they were on. The moment she hit it, IF cried out again as pain shot up through her spine. That attack was powerful, and it had likely broken a few of her bones upon collision.

Everyone cried out for their fallen Comrade at this, while Vent made to rush over to her. Unfortunately for him, Underling appeared before him and he was forced to block her strike with his Gun mode. "You're not getting off that easy, buster!" she proclaimed with an evil smirk, getting a growl of irritation from the male as their clash continued.

Nepgear, now having snapped out of her frozen state, rushed over to IF's fallen form horror plastered onto her face. She had been so into the battle that when the meteor-like round was deflected towards her, she had just froze. Her body wouldn't move like how she would want it to at all. She had thought her life was about to end when it was about to hit her, only to watch in horror as she saw one of her friends take the blow for her. "IF! Are you okay? Please, be alright!" she cried out, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.

Weakly, IF opened one eye and just barely managed to smile at the worries girl as she was raised so that her head was resting on her lap while facing upwards at Nepgear. "Oh… good, I managed to get to you just in the nick of time." She muttered, trying her best not to laugh because the pain would be worse. She learned that the first few seconds she tried to chuckle only to wince in pain.

"No, it's not good at all!" Nepgear cried while shaking her head in denial. She then looked back down with her tears about to fall. "Why did you save me like that? I'm not even carrying my own weight…." She trailed off, letting her tears finally fall down from their confines, unable to be held back by their maker any longer.

The tears fell down onto her cheeks, but still the brunette smiled up at the crying Candidate. She reached up and placed a shaking hand on her shoulder, before mustering her strength to speak, "That's not important, I saved you because I wanted to. Nothing more." She told her firmly, before wincing at another burst of pain within her body.

If she thought those words would help her in any way, IF would be mistaken as Nepgear once again shook her head. "I don't understand…"

"I wasn't there to help you all three years ago… I don't want to feel that helpless again…" IF explained, the pain and stress of the situation finally got through her mental defences, so she would be able to get her true feelings out. Nepgear could tell this, despite the state both were in. "So I decided I would protect you, and everyone else, no matter what." She then glanced away towards Vent, who was gritting his teeth with a hot fury in his eyes as he duelled Underling. "And Vent over there… he would say the same thing. You know, he may have not been here long, we may not have known each other for long, but one thing I'm sure of is that he has the same drive we do. I'm sure that if he was in my spot he'd say the same thing."

Hearing all this was too much for the poor girl to take. She began to cry even more, but as time passed those tears switched from sadness to happiness, happiness that people like IF, Compa and Vent were here by her side at this moment. "IF…" she muttered through her tears. 'I… I'm so scared… but I need to fight… I have to become stronger or else all my friends are going to suffer…'

An explosion of emotion erupted inside Nepgear's chest as she stood, careful not to hurt IF any more than she already was, before she turned to the battling Vent and Underling, "I…. I won't let you do as you please!" she bellowed, the result being the two halting their battle to regard the girl. She didn't falter at their stares though she had the urge to. But she didn't fall to it, not now, not now.

'Huh… looks like she's gained a boost in confidence from her talk with IF… that's good, very good… is this what Histoire meant by relying on others?' the male wondered while Underling rolled her eyes. She didn't think much of the twerp or her friends, just the guy she was fighting. He was strong, stronger than they were and he had not spouted any of that friendship nonsense.

Too bad she made one fatal mistake: underestimating Nepgear.

'I have to transform… if I don't, then all my friends will end up being hurt and it'll be all my fault… no, don't think that right now Nepgear, you have to be a big girl right now. Think, what do you do to get confidence…?' she wondered, clenching her fists as she made to draw her energy sword.

Just then though, she felt a hand clasp her shoulder, and looked to her right to find IF standing upright. The girl held her abdomen where she was hit by Vent's deflected round, but otherwise she was fine. The brunette smirked at her, and it wasn't one of her usual smirks full of confidence or arrogance, but a genuine smirk. "Finally, you got your passion back. Think you can fight her yourself? With Vent alongside you?" she asked, knowing that both she and Compa were too weak to fight right now. Compa was busy healing herself from her earlier attack and IF had been hit by a misfire, so she would be too limited in her options and would only get in the way. Vent was their only option for a partner for their Candidate right now.

"I will win… I swear it!" Nepgear replied with a determined face. She would do it, she just had to! There was no room for doubt, no room for failure, she just had to win, no matter what!

This made a proud smile form on the girl's face as she steadied herself a little better. "Atta girl. Now then, Nepgear…"

* * *

Vent meanwhile had just parried and deflected one of Linda's attacks, when he caught a glimpse of something happening out of the corner of his eye. He glanced to where the girls were, and his eyes nearly flew out of their socket, 'whoa, holy, what in tarnation?!' he thought in absolute shock and disbelief. Underling raised a brow upon seeing this, wondering what had gotten him so worked up. She didn't care much for it, but for her own interests…

When she saw what was happening, the only thing she could do was grimace in disgust, "eww…"

Both Vent and Nepgear shared each other's confusion when IF cupped her chin and placed her lips upon the Candidate's, making her eyes widen in absolute shock. It was brief, barely lasted a second, but it was enough for what IF wanted to happen, to happen. "I'll pass my strength over to you, so go beat em up, Nepgear."

After letting go, Nepgear was enveloped in a bright light, one that shot up into the skies above like a pillar. A huge surge of energy was released from the pillar, one that didn't knock anyone down, still sent chills up the spines of those that its wielder saw as their enemy, or to be more specific Underling. Vent, IF and Compa all felt a warm, tingly sensation envelop them thanks to the energy, much to the former's surprise and confusion. On the other hand, bright smiles formed on the other girls' faces at the familiar sensation. It was like they were witnessing the transformation of the CPUs themselves, something they have been missing for 3 years now.

The light died down, and when it did Nepgear's new form was revealed, and to Vent's surprise it looked like the form she was in when he found her in the Gamindustri Graveyard. The armour pieces appeared in their respective places, and finally the transformation was complete. Nepgear, now in her HDD form, now floated before them all with a white and purple sword/gun hybrid weapon. It reminded him of what was called a 'Gunblade' so he'd call it that.

"What the? Oh crap, you're a CPU?!"

Vent could almost smell the fear and shock in Underling's voice, something that made him grin to himself, 'it was at this moment that Underling knew… she'd fucked up.' He thought to himself with a chuckle. "Heh, you don goofed." He remarked while readying his Scythe. "And since she's going all out…" closing his eyes and cracking his finger, the male focused, and in moments his Kagune, both his Rinkaku and Ukaku, emerged from behind him. Red cracks spread across the left side of his face, and when his eyes opened again he was shown to have his Kakugan activated. "I might as well do the same!"

"How the hell in the Deity of Sin's name did you do that?"

"Fuck you, that's how."

Opening her eyes, Nepgear's blue irises with their white glowing power button symbol, a feature that had been slightly different when they were last seen, narrowed at the now sweating Underling. "Prepare yourself! I won't lose ever again!" she proclaimed with a mighty battle cry. She held her Gunblade like a Rifle while looking over to Vent, "Vent, cover me, I'll get in close!"

"Got it!" the male responded with a thumbs up, rushing over at high speeds. His Ukaku flapped once and he took to the skies. Vent knew his Rinkaku wouldn't be of much help to his allies, so he managed to stab them all around Underling to restrict her movements. Nepgear capitalised on this opportunity as she flew through one of the gaps to slash at Underling with her Gunblade.

Underling gritted her teeth and brought her Pipe up to block it, the power and weight behind the blow being much more than when she had been fighting Vent, a perk to HDD. Though by not using his Kagune Vent had been limiting how much damage he could do even with his transformable ring.

Not letting her get away, Nepgear repeatedly slashed at her opponent, who either blocked or parried the blows with her pipe. Eventually she managed to get a kick to her abdomen, knocking Nepgear back as she jumped out the cage that Vent had made, flipping several times in the air before landing with a slight skid. But she got no respite for Vent had made his Rinkaku rear him back before throwing him forwards like a slingshot, his Tentacles plucking their tips out of the ground to do so.

As he came down at her, he twisted his body to attack with half of his Tentacles, Underling not taking the chance and jumping back even further. However, the tips of them nicked her and sent her off balance, making Underling fall onto her stomach. With a curse, she looked up and rolled to the side to avoid the three other Tentacles that tried stabbing her from above before getting to her feet. Then, she came face to face with a Gunblade heading for her chest, and barely blocked in time with her Pipe.

"This is my special! MIRAGE DANCE!" Nepgear called out as she did several high-speed slashes that Underling couldn't parry against, before ending in an energy slash that released a purple explosion. If she were in human form then that attack wouldn't have done much damage and she would have left herself open, but that wasn't the case.

'Argh! This tramp's slowly getting the upper hand here!' the ASIC operative thought with a grimace, making to strike at Nepgear only to get blocked by one of Vent's Ukaku wings, which had hardened into a black crystalline structure that unleashed a load of crimson shards at her, forcing Underling back. She had to raise her Pipe again to block the swing of Vent's Scythe, the male expertly swinging it with rapid ferocity, his cold gaze enhanced by how his eyes were mismatched right now. 'And this jerkoff's not helping matters either!'

Finally, the male saw an opportunity and made 2 Tentacles grab Underling by her feet while she was distracted, making her curse and him grin, "going up!" with a cry, Underling felt herself get thrown into the air, making her scream comically while flailing her limbs back and forth. "Nepgear now!"

"I'm on it!" the girl replied while lifting her Gunblade and aiming it towards the enemy. The barrel of the blade, which was above the back edge, began to glow brightly before she pulled the trigger and released a series of purple laser shots. They flew true and hit their target dead on, who cried out in pain when they hit before the Tentacles of Vent's Rinkaku grabbed her and slammed into the ground, lifted up and slammed into the ground again, before they tossed her away.

Underling bounced across the ground, moaning in displeasure when she finally stopped long enough for her to get to her feet. She felt weak, her body was littered with bruises and cuts, while she felt that she had broken a couple ribs thanks to those damnable Tentacles that guy possessed. She would have to pull something out of her ass otherwise this battle would be theirs, and then she'd be the laughing stock of their entire syndicate!

She glanced to the enemies she was fighting, taking in their stances and expressions. Vent had his Scythe poised for a slash, with his legs spread apart with his left leg behind his right. His mismatched eyes were narrowed into a beady glare while his wings were lowered but his Tentacles were pointed towards her, ready to strike at any moment.

Meanwhile, Nepgear was hovering in place, slowly bobbing up and down as she radiated an aura of power that she didn't have before. Her eyes shone clear with confidence and resolve, none of the wimpiness she had before was present. Her Gunblade thrummed with energy as she stared on at her, waiting for her to make the next move.

With a growl, Underling readied her pipe in both hands as she shouted, "you twerps won't defeat me that easily!" she called out, before she charged forth at the speeds she's be allowed to with the amount of Shares on the side of ASIC. She intended to catch them by surprise, as both were of a high threat level. But if she were to guess, then it would be Vent's threat level that would be higher. She couldn't get to the girl twerp without going through those freaky Tentacle things or those wings of his so that guy had to go.

"Hold it."

* * *

"Hold it."

A strong, firm and MALE voice spoke suddenly, and it was like all life stopped in the vicinity. Underling stopped her charge abruptly, a loud skidding sound being made until she did. Everyone looked around for the source, wondering who it was that had interrupted the battle. However, only one of them could tell just by the voice who the newcomer was, and he prayed to every Goddess in existence that he was wrong.

'That voice could only belong to one man…. Please, let me be wrong! None of these girls stand a chance against him!'

Vent was pale as a ghost right now, his eyes wide and filled with shock, dread and horror. A deep pit had formed in his stomach while every fibre of his being was screaming at him that someone dangerous to his life was coming near, and that he had to run like hell to escape. But he didn't, one because he knew that it would be pointless to run as this person would be able to catch him with ease, and also Vent wouldn't leave these girls to die a fate that none of them deserved.

From a tree, a figure flipped into the air and fell down towards them. It landed right beside Underling, creating a massive shockwave that knocked all but Nepgear down due to her floating. Vent barely managed to stab his Rinkaku into the ground in time to avoid this fate, but that wasn't what he was focusing on. 'No… not him, anything but HIM!' he screamed mentally.

The rumbling ceased after a few seconds, and the figure stood up, revealing his form to the girls. He was a tall man, much to the girls' surprise as they hadn't expected a tall guy to be here. Though, when IF looked and saw the panic on Vent's face, she knew that this was not a good thing, far from it. This was the first time she had seen him like this, so filled with panic and dread that it snuffed out everything else. She didn't like it, and by extension she didn't like this man for making Vent act this way.

Said man had short white hair, and piercing crimson red eyes, though they made it difficult to tell by how small they were. His build was difficult to see thanks to the long white coat he wore. It had a high collar, which covered a portion of his face, though not enough to cover the crimson red iron mask. IF had no idea why, but the moment she took in his appearance she knew that he was not someone to be trifled with, and not just because of Vent's reaction to his presence.

"I-Iffy…" Compa stuttered, drawing her friend's attention. She shakily pointed to the man before them, before finding her voice again, "that guy… he smells so much like blood…" she said, shaking like a leaf. She was utterly terrified of this man for some reason IF couldn't fathom, but she didn't like it. IF wanted to comfort her friend but she was too injured to do anything at the moment.

"Linda. Why have you not done your mission? Why is the Mascot still alive?" the man asked Underling, also known as Linda but for comedy purposes we'll keep calling her Underling. The man gave a narrow eyed stare, which made all the more terrifying with his red eyes, and they weren't even a Kakugan!

Chills ran down her spine as Underling struggled under the KI radiating from the man's body directed at her for taking too long to finish her mission. She never liked it when this guy was angry, because it always felt like he would stick his hand in her mouth and kill her in the most brutal way possible. "u-um, s-s-s-s-sorry boss, I'll have it done soon, I promise." The girl stammered helplessly as she stammered, shivering at the cold gaze the man possessed.

"You have been given orders to go to Lastation. Search for the Mascot there." The man commanded with a dark tone of voice. His eyes were fixed upon her and now the whole area was saturated in the man's irritated KI. All the girls gasped and felt like their breath was suddenly gone, an invisible pressure now on their shoulders. Vent just stared, his fears rapidly increasing. 'If this guys who I think he is, then we're all in deep shit!'

Underling lowered her head in respect, "y-yes sir, lord Tatara. I'll get it done pronto!" she said before hightailing it out of there so fast one would think a horde of horny ogres after her. But what Vent heard from her made him feel like he was trapped in a literal ice age. 'Oh shit it's who I feared… Tatara! Freaking TARTARA of Aogiri Tree before it was destroyed by the CCG!' he screamed in his mind.

Part of him was super stoked to be meeting one of the people responsible for Kaneki's metamorphosis into the One-Eyed King, but that part was his otaku side, and right now it was being stomped on by his much greater self-preservation instinct to get the fuck out of there. However, Vent couldn't do that because it would leave the girls in the line of fire. This guy… in the Manga and Anime he was a ruthless, cold and stoic killing machine, and if that hasn't changed then he couldn't let the girls get near him.

Images of what happened at the raid on Anteiku flashed through his mind, and Vent quickly pushed them back. "You… what the hell are you doing here Tatara?!" Vent roared while glaring forth at the man. Tatara regarded him silently, not responding to his questioning which pissed Vent off, while the girls just watched, confusion etched onto their features.

"Huh? Do Ven-Ven and this guy know each other?"

"Judging by how they're looking at each other like they're about to brawl, I'd say so, but not in a good way."

Compa had asked the brunette that question with a tilted head and a confused expression on her face. She didn't like the tension between them, nor did she like the amount of bloodlust the two were radiating. In her eyes, it was like she was facing 2 dangerous level monsters having accidentally walked in on each other in their own territory before engaging in a territory battle.

"Hoh? It seems that the rumours were true, one of our kind has joined the enemy…" Tatara mused. His stoic gaze was fixed upon Vent, completely disregarding Nepgear as if she were of no interest to him. Not even in HDD did she get recognised on his radar as Tatara examined Vent's Kagune. After several tense moments, the man turned his gaze to the Mascot that was glowing not far from the male's position, and began walking towards it.

Not one step later did he blur backwards to avoid a Tentacle stabbing from above. The Tentacle return to Vent's side, as he was its master, while the male levelled a sinister glare towards the other man, "I don't know how or why the hell you're here, Tatara. You should be dead when the CCG ended you with the help of Takizawa."

At the mention of the name Takizawa, a flicker of something crossed onto Tatara's features, something that Vent was unable to recognise due to how it flashed by in his eyes, but the male didn't need to know what it was to know that he now had Tatara's attention. "To know something that only the Investigators whom were present would know… you may be a threat after all. In that case…"

The male's eyes widened when he felt his instincts go haywire, screaming at him to dodge immediately. Following his instincts, Vent flipped to the side, a large blur having slammed into the ground where he once stood. Landing on the ground again, Vent hardly had a second to breathe as he was attacked several times in rapid succession.

While he was dodging, Vent had caught a glimpse of what was attacking him, and it appeared to be what looked like a long skeletal red Tail with its tip reminiscent of a spearhead. 'A Bikaku Kagune, then… it looks like a mix of the Manga and Anime adaptations of his Kagune. Nonetheless, I know what it can do in his hands, the raid at Anteiku, the fight on rue island… Tatara is one of the worst people we could come across at this time.' He thought, readying his Kagune. He raised his free hand and cracked his finger, electing an eyebrow raise from the enemy.

Instinctively, it reacted. The Rinkaku caught and wrapped around the tip of Tatara's Bikaku before pinning it in place, allowing his Ukaku to rain a volley of Shards upon the man. Said man blurred out of existence, dodging the shards and delivering a vicious kick to his abdomen, making Vent gasp and cough up blood, his eyes shaking uncontrollably at the force and impact of the kick. 's-such… speed…'

"VENT!"

The girls all cried out in shock and horror at the sight of what they could catalogue as the first major blow that Vent had received this entire time he had been in Gamindustri. For the duration of his time here he had either been working together with them on Quests or fighting monsters as a means of training. Not once in any of those times did he come back with any serious injuries, injuries that his body wouldn't heal up anyways since he had a high speed healing factor that came with the strange powers he possessed. Now though, that record was shattered by this mysterious man. Who was he, why did he install so much fear and dread into their powerhouse?

It was at that moment that the man noticed the other girls, and for the first time they saw something that horrified them more than anything they'd ever witnessed: Two Kakugan eyes. "You will be silenced, boy."


	10. Chapter 10 - Two Predators

**Chapter 10 - two Predators**

Ever felt the feeling of being stared at by the reaper himself? Well, IF and the girls felt that sensation when they saw both of Tatara's eyes, both of them having the same appearance as Vent's left eye did whenever those strange limbs manifested. They thought seeing one eye was bad enough, the sight of that eye alone could put fear into any adventurer, even the Goddesses would likely feel intimidated by the predatory stare that came with it. But seeing BOTH eyes like that, as if the façade one would make when fitting in with society was crumbling away to reveal the beast within was downright terrifying.

That was why the girls were so scared when they saw both of Tatara's eyes.

"E-Eep! I-Iffy… that guy…!"

"I know Compa, he's got the same eyes as Vent does. No idea why, but it's pretty clear those two are connected somehow."

IF and Compa looked at each other while discussing what they were seeing, it was better than looking into that creature's eyes that was for sure, but then they remembered Nepgear and both turned to her direction. They looked and saw that she was tense, her body shaking slightly as she regarded the man with caution while he fought Vent with what looked like a Tail of some sorts. "Hey Gear, you alright?!"

At the Guild Agent's words, Nepgear lightly jumped as she turned her attention to her friends. She gave a reassuring nod to them combined with a small smile. "Y-Yeah I'm good. Do you know who this guy is?" she asked them, to which both shook their heads to show that they didn't know at all.

IF then put a hand to her chin while Compa began healing her injury. "Well, what I can guess is that Vent and this guy know each other, or Vent knows OF him but that guy doesn't have the same info. He said that he was of 'their kind' so does that mean he has similar powers to Vent?"

Nepgear didn't answer that question because she didn't know the answer. But as she looked to the battle that they were having, the lilac haired CPU Candidate couldn't help but feel a little useless. There were no openings for her to join the fight, and even if there was something was telling her that would be a bad idea. The way that man fought with his Kagune against Vent's made it seem that he was someone who was far above her in terms of combat experience. It was like looking at her older sister, only more experienced and ready to fight.

That thought sent chills down her spine.

* * *

Back to the battling males, Vent flipped over a wide sweep of the Bikaku, which then circled over his head and tried to stab into him. But Vent jumped back to avoid it, landing on all fours and launching his Rinkaku into the ground. Tatara noticed the ground beneath him begin to crack, and quickly began evading the rising Tentacles. This proved to be a ploy however as Vent had charged forwards with his Ukaku ready to strike. One claw was thrust forwards, and Tatara retracted his Kagune to block it.

Both stared each other down for a brief moment, their eyes bearing down coldly into one another. Their Kagune created sparks from the friction between them but they never once broke eye contact. "It appears your Kagune is still developing. It is incomplete." Tatara noted, getting Vent's attention though he made sure not to let it show. Incomplete? What was he talking about? Did he mean that it was still trying to manifest its full form but couldn't somehow?

Deciding to not think about it for now, Vent broke their standoff and launched his Rinkaku at his enemy, whose Bikaku deflected them like swatting flies. This proved to be a mistake though for the Kagune of Tatara opened another hole in his defences, a hole exploited by the stream of Shards launched from Vent's Ukaku. But Tatara was not known to be one of the most respected Ghouls in Aogiri for nothing, as his Kagune's quick reflexes enabled it to crunch up in front of him, blocking the Shards.

With a snarl, Vent decided to go for another tactic, quickly moulding his Rinkaku into a larger Tentacle to bring it down on Tatara's head. The attack hit nothing but the ground however, and Vent quickly glanced around the battleground, searching for the Man's presence. His senses told him to dodge and Vent rolled to the side, bringing his Rinkaku back to him while it split into his default Tentacles, which saved him from the overhead slam that Tatar did with his Bikaku. It was a fast Kagune, and he had only dodged by a hair. A part of him wondered how he was doing so freaking well against TATARA of all things, because in all seriousness when Seidou Takizawa tried to strike him down, Tatara easily tossed him into the path of Noro who mortally wounded him with his Kagune, tearing off his arm, shoulder and a portion of his FREAKING TORSO! Nonetheless, that part was ignored for the time being, his life and the lives of his comrades were on the line here!

"It appears you have some skill in wielding that Kagune. There are significant rough edges to your fighting styles, however you are holding back for what reasons I do not know." Tatara mused while appearing before him, his Bikaku wrapping around him and pointing at him, coiled like a snake ready to pounce. He had figured out that Vent was relying on all his senses to detect his Bikaku's movement, so hiding it like he did usually would be pointless right now.

Tatara's Kakugan eyes narrowed, "however, you are impeding my goal, and for that…" he vanished into nothingness, and Vent gasped when his Kagune was reduced to helpless masses within seconds and a hole appeared in his stomach. More holes replaced his shoulders and thighs, separating his limbs from his body. All in a single instant. Vent gasped, blood spewing from his mouth while his body arched forwards. He couldn't hear anything but Tatara's voice whispering into his ear with a tad more malice in his tone than before, "you must be silenced."

* * *

"VENT!" the girls all screamed his name as they saw their friend go down. Horror was plastered onto each of their faces as they saw one of their members go down in possibly the most brutal way they had ever seen. Compa covered her mouth to stop the vomit and the scream struggling within to break out. What she had just seen was something she never wanted to see ever, the sheer brutality of the defeat Vent had suffered was not something seen within Gamindustri, and she never wanted to see it again. IF grimaced heavily, trying to not throw up at the horror before her. Her face was getting greener and greener by the second, yet she was unable to look away.

And Nepgear…

'No… no not this, not like this! It can't be! It's like watching my sisters fall all over again!' she screamed in her mind, shaking like a leaf at the sight of the bloodied mess that Vent had become. She wanted to run, to scream until her voice was hoarse. The sight was so traumatising and gory that even her HDD self was affected, although she didn't really change much personality wise when she transformed.

Soon Tatara walked past the defeated Vent and headed towards the Mascot, only to stop when he saw the two human girls step in front of it protectively, both of them having a furious flame behind their eyes. "Don't you get any closer, you bastard!" IF yelled with venom, gripping her Qatars as she got into her signature stance for combat. She was pissed and fearful, despite her attempts to channel that fear into anger. One of the few guys in the world that she could call friend had fallen right before her eyes and she couldn't do anything to help. It felt similar to what happened 3 years ago with the CPUs.

"That was very mean of you, Mr… mean beaty upy guy!" Compa cried out as she held her syringe in a trembling manner. She was livid yes, but she had a lack of swearing or calling people really disgusting names. It wasn't in her nature to do so which usually lead to some… weird insults whenever she was angry. "Why would you do something so horrible?!"

Tatara regarded them both with his stoic gaze, not at all affected by their words as he proceeded to walk towards them. They told him to stop otherwise they'd attack, but that ended in failure as he still kept moving. Only when he was close enough did the man unleash his Bikaku Kagune that thwacked them, chopping off IF's arm and both of Compa's legs, both girls screaming as they fell to the ground in agony.

"Compa, IF NO!" Nepgear screamed, before rushing forwards to slash at the man that dared hurt her friends. She was scared, driven by panic at the thought of losing them again. But she couldn't get close because his Bikaku smacked her in the face, grabbed her by wrapping around one of her ankles, then tossed her aside into the edge of the platform.

The man finally stopped when he was at the Mascot's prone form, eyeing it with his ever unreadable expression. It was hard to tell what he was thinking behind those stoic eyes, but it was clear that the man was going to destroy it. The reason: he was raising his foot to stomp on it, wrapping his Bikaku around it to enhance his stomp's effectiveness. Vent, despite having no arms or legs to speak of, barely managed to shift himself so he could see this, his eyes widening as a result, 'that move… I know it, that's Nishio Nishiki's move when he tried to stomp on Hide early into the Manga and Anime!' he thought to himself. It made sense really considering Tatara was leagues above Nishiki who was a fellow Bikaku Ghoul.

This couldn't be the end, could it? After everything they did, all the training and prepping they did, this was how they were going to end up? Dying alone in a Dungeon having been ripped apart by ASIC? Vent had never felt so disgusted with himself more than this moment. He felt so revolted that he would throw up, despite his abdomen having a hole in it right now. He could feel his Ghoul side screeching at him, screeching for vengeance and to rip Tatara apart for what he had done.

Even with his role in the Manga, Vent still despised him for what he was doing.

Why? Why was he aiding an organisation like ASIC? He had no real reason to, his goal was originally to serve Eto and the One-Eyed King, wasn't it?! He was very close to Eto to the point where he was considered to have a deeper relationship with her!

'No, stop thinking about that shit right now, Vent! Focus! You have to get up, even if you have to use your teeth till they break, you must get up! You can't go down like a dog after everything you've been through, that wasn't what you promised yourself!' his mind, body and soul screamed in unison within him, and Vent's eye slowly turned back into his Kakugan as he looked up at Tatara. He was just about ready to smash the Mascot into pieces and with his Bikaku enhanced foot as well!

And the worst part? The states he'd left the girls in.

Seeing their injuries made Vent's blood boil like never before. He was mad, furious even. No, no word could be used to describe how much anger coursed through him right now. He had to get up, he had to get up… HE HAD TO GET UP!

Pure determination was writhing within him right now, he would not stop till he was at least standing, then he could at least use his Ring, which had fallen down to his side he'd pick it up with his teeth if he had to. That was when he felt it, the power born from RC Cells, rushing through his system as he gasped audibly. His eyes widened when flesh and bone burst out of his sockets, writhing and contorting to form a set of limbs for him to use.

Tatara's senses told him to look behind him, and when he saw Vent getting up on a pair of newly formed limbs, ones that looked exactly like his original ones that were scattered across the battleground, he merely raised a brow, "hmmm, I see… so your regeneration abilities have surpassed average Rinkaku users…" he muttered, not getting a reply. Vent's head was lowered, and the hole in his abdomen was gone.

Compa and the others all noticed him as well, through their own pained states that is. "V-Ven-Ven…?" the girl muttered, mustering a bit of her remaining strength to look up from her prone position to see what was going on. Her eyes were shaking when she saw his limbs having regenerated. "What…? Why is his body healing itself like that?" she whispered in a gasp, not believing what she was seeing.

IF was the next to comment when she looked up, using her remaining forearm for support. "V-Vent… don't do it… he's too strong…" she whispered, but Vent wouldn't hear her, no, he wouldn't hear anything at this point. IF tried to get up, but she just kept falling down as she tried to make her way over, though her strength failed when she was at the halfway point.

Nepgear was the only one who could move the best considering how she could float with her processors which floated around her. Slowly she lifted herself out of the indentation she made on the side of the platform, getting into a floating position though her body was leaning forwards, and she felt very weak. That last hit had been particularly damaging and her energy was low thanks to it as well. She wasn't in a particularly good situation right now, but that couldn't be said for any of them at this point. "Ugh… that hurt… owwie…" she muttered, holding the side of her head before looking up at the enemy.

* * *

Meanwhile, Vent stared down at his now non-holed Abdomen, running a hand over the area where he had been impaled, only now noticing that he was back on his feet with his limbs restored. 'Looks like my healing factor's quite potent indeed… stronger than perhaps Noro's...' the male thought as he registered Tatara's words. He sensed that there was a Kagune approaching him to stab him in the head, but Vent caught the tip in his hand, gripping it firmly so that it couldn't escape.

"You know something…?" Vent began with his head still hanging low. Tatara's eyes widened by a small fraction at this as he tried to pull it free, but to no avail. The teen's grip was solid as iron, and it wasn't weakening. "I REALLY…" with a gritting of his teeth Vent tugged hard and forcefully yanked Tatara over to him, grabbing him by the head with his other hand and slammed him into the ground, "… wanna FUCK YOU UP!"

He then kicked Tatara in the side, sending him across the platform. The man rolled into a kneeling position and made to use his Bikaku to stab him, only to realise one thing: it had been torn in half. The man looked surprised by this but it was hard to tell, before he looked to where the other half was: being eaten away by several of Vent's Tentacles which protruded out of his newly restored Rinkaku Kakuhou.

A flash of anger passed over his eyes and Tatara quickly regenerated the missing piece of his Kagune. With that done the man launched it at his enemy, said enemy beginning to dash toward him. 'What is he doing?!' Tatara wondered as the two neared each other. The man got his answer when his Rinkaku deflected the initial attack, allowing Vent to carry on his charge. The man made to retract his Kagune but the Tentacles wrapped around it, allowing Vent to be pulled along with it.

"Such a pest…!"

Tatara was slowly losing that cool and stoic persona that he had been seen with during this battle and in the Manga (save for the Hoji incidents), but that would not be the end of his troubles as when he tried to kick Vent off him, the male deflected it with a kick of his own. Vent then leaped off the Tail as he landed in front of the man, stabbing all four of his Tentacles into Tatars'a body. "Guh!"

STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB.

It was a continuous stabbing session as Tatara grunted and groaned in pain, feeling his body being repeatedly impaled faster than he could heal from it. His Kagune was sliced to ribbons by Vent's own Tentacles, leaving it useless. Said male glaring up at him with his mismatched eyes as he proceeded to royally fuck Tatara up good. Blood fell down from the man like rain, splattering across the platform. And the Tentacles just kept going, ripping though skin, muscle and bone in accordance to their wielder's will, his desire for retaliation.

"And now, for the finale!"

With that and a battle cry, Vent allowed his Tentacles to grab Tatara by wrapping around his damaged ankles and wrists, before they slammed him into the ground several times, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG! They then lifted him into the air before slamming him once again into several trees, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG! His Kagune was doing beastly amounts of damage at a rate that Tatara couldn't keep up with. That, or he was just caught off guard and her little time to recover between his blows.

All the girls could do was watched with morbid fascination, their earlier pain forgotten. They all looked in amazement while they watched Vent exercise vengeance upon the man that he called Tatara for some reason, despite having not heard the man say his name. Though, with how Tatara had responded to him it confirmed to them that his name was indeed that. Many questions assaulted their minds about this situation, questions that concerned Vent and his connection to this man, as well as questions IF and Compa had been wondering for a long time, ever since they met him, but were unable to ask due to more pressing matters.

Eventually, Vent stopped his little game of 'what a Tatara' and brought the man close to him, keeping him from doing anything with his Rinkaku. At this point his Ukaku had been restored during the beating, but he didn't manifest it quite yet. Heck, at this point he doubted that he'd need to since he had almost won this fight. "Alright, I'm going to ask you one time: how the fuck did you get into this world?" Vent asked with a scowl, punching him several times to jumpstart his consciousness since it looked like Tatara was about to lose it.

The man looked at him with his ever stoic face, offering no response, which made Vent grit his teeth. "Not talking? Well, I'd like to make sure you do talk, but I don't want those girls to lose their innocence because of me, so I'll be doing… THIS!" Vent stepped back and posed himself like a pitcher in a baseball game, his Rinkaku rearing back in response to his motions.

And then, with a mighty war cry and all his strength, Vent threw his imaginary ball forwards while his Kagune threw Tatara into the skies. The man shot forth faster than a bullet, quickly fading out of sight there was even a blinking star in the skies to indicate how he had been blasted away, like those three villains who try to steal pocketed monstrosities from the main heroes.

The battle was over… Vent had won.

* * *

While the battle was indeed over, and the Mascot was safe, it wasn't without its costs, that much was for certain. Panting heavily, Vent groaned as he fell to one knee, putting one hand on the ground to support himself while his Rinkaku stabbed the ground around him. His head hung downwards as he tried to regain his breathing, which was a sign of his weakened state.

"Vent!" Nepgear cried as she flew over to him, forgetting about what she had just seen for now in favour of checking to see if her friend was okay. Kneeling beside him, she examined his body to find various wounds and injuries on his person, all of which were beginning to heal over quickly, much to her shock. "wh-wha… why are all of your injuries healing so quickly?"

The male mustered up enough strength to look up, seeing IF and Compa stumbling towards them, their lack of their full limbs hitting him hard. Despite the growing anguish in him, Vent blinked back the tears of stress and calmly answered Nepgear's question. "it's because I have a potent regeneration… part of my other side that gives me an edge in battle. As long as I have a large supply of special Cells, I can regenerate potentially even from lethal injuries like decapitation or having my heart pierced." He explained.

"Gear, I know you have questions, we all do, but I think that right now we need to talk to the Mascot about it helping us." IF interrupted them with a pained grimace. The shock of losing her arm had been a large impact on her body. Only now was she suffering the full extent of her injury. Compa nodded in agreement, being unable to speak as she leaned against the side of the platform closest to them while trying not to cry at the loss of her legs. The pain hurt worse for her than IF since she had lost both of her legs, while IF lost only an arm. She had treated patients who had severed limbs before, but she hadn't expected to get first-hand experience of what that must be like. Now how was she going to be able to face Nep-Nep and the others when they were freed.

Vent eyed their lost limbs with a guilty conscience. He didn't have much energy left due to not having used his Tentacles devouring ability that much. What energy he did possess came from the eating of half of Tatara's Kagune, and even then it had diminished with the use of his regeneration. As he eyed their limbs and their empty sockets, having to glance from one another, an idea formed in his mind. It was a long shot, it may not work, but Vent wanted to try for their sakes. He had to remedy for his mistake, his sin of not being able to save them from Tatara. If he didn't, Vent would never be able to rest easy even if they save the CPUs and Gamindustri by extension.

"Girls, could we hold off that for a second? I need to try something." He asked them, getting confused looks from them as to what he was intending. Vent meanwhile, didn't answer their questions as he launched 3 of his Tentacles, one for each severed limb. They grasped them by wrapping around their joints, before receding back to him and bringing the limbs along for the ride. "Trust me on this girls, if this works then this will be considered a victory in our war against ASIC. IF, your first. Brace yourself, this might hurt."

Soon, a Tentacle that wasn't holding anything wrapped around IF's shoulder socket, much to the girl's surprise as she tried to move to no avail. Its grip was frim as its tip morphed into what looked like the tip of a Syringe, one that it embedded into her shoulder socket immediately while the Tentacle holding her arm swiftly connected it back to her socket.

Fiery pain assaulted her senses as IF cried out, screams streaming from her lungs without limit nor any intention of stopping while the Tentacle with a needle tip began injecting red coloured Cells into her shoulder. Steam rose from the socket as entrails and bones began to grow from the socket to the limb, attaching to it and reassembling to the necessary forms, Vent smirking to himself as he saw what was happening. 'Yes, it's working! Just gotta keep at it till the job's done!'

After several minutes of agonizing pain, IF gasped when she felt the Tentacles recede back to Vent's side. She glared at Vent angrily, her fury unmatched by even Tatara's when he faced Hoji for the first time in the Manga. "What the hell man?! What'd you do that for huh? Was it really necessary for you to-"

"Iffy, your arm! Look, your arm!"

Compa's outcry broke the angry rant that the brunette was delivering onto the male One-Eyed Ghoul. IF blinked as her mind registered what Compa said after a few seconds, and slowly she looked down and indeed, there it was: her arm now fully connected back into her socket like it had never been severed in the first place. The only sign it had been severed was the torn sleeve of her Trench Coat, but that could be easily fixed. Shock ran through her system at the sight, shock and realisation as she looked back at the male before them.

Said male was smirking in elation at the sight, his idea having worked wonders. "Excellent, looks like RC Cell transfusion was a success." He commented, examining the arm he had reattached to his friend's body. Upon seeing their looks of bewilderment, Vet decided to explain, "The key to my abilities is a special cell in the body called RC Cells, named from their appearance being that of a developing foetus. What I did was transfer my RC Cells into IF's shoulder so they could reattach her arm to her body, temporarily giving her the regeneration that they give me. My RC Cells have potent healing powers, so I hoped that by giving them to her, they would restore her arm to its former glory, and it looks like it worked."

This principle was not something relative to the Manga, but he did base it off of how a Kagune can be detached and manipulated. What Vent had done was simply an extreme version of that, injecting detached RC Cells into his comrades to help them regenerate from their injuries. Since his regeneration could heal entire limbs, then it wasn't a stretch to think it could do the same for others.

The girls gaped at both Vent and his explanation, but this didn't last long as IF suddenly blurred forwards and hugged him, murmuring thank you over and over again for healing her arm. It made sense really, because she had just admitted to not wanting to feel helpless like she did 3 years ago when the CPUs were captured. Losing her arm would have made her goal much harder than before, to the point where she would have likely have had to retire permanently from the Guild.

Smiling down at the brunette, Vent nodded while glancing to Compa, knowing she wanted to have her legs back. She saw his look and quickly braced herself for the pain that was to come as her legs were brought over to their sockets by the Tentacles holding them. One other wrapped around her waist to keep her in place before injecting it's now needle tip into her, ready for the limbs to be connected to their sockets again.

The procedure began and she did her best not to scream. IF realised what was happening and quickly went over to give her a supporting hand, gripping her hand in hers firmly to show that she was there for her friend. Nepgear did the same for her other hand, both of them whispering consoling words to the girl's ears consisting of 'it's okay' up to 'you're gonna be able to walk again, just think of that'.

This time the procedure took slightly longer due to having to reattach 2 limbs, but when it was finished Compa saw that she no longer had no legs to walk with. Her legs were reattached to her body with no issues whatsoever. Looking to Vent, Compa remained idle for only a second before barrelling into him and tackling him into a hug, crying her eyes out. If he thought IF was doing the waterworks before, it was nothing compared to what Compa was like right now, 'although I guess I should have expected this, since Compa's a lot more prone to fear and stuff like that than IF is. She's more innocent and pure, while IF's been hardened through years of fighting as a Mercenary.' He thought to himself.

Once the waterworks passed, Compa realised what she was doing, hugging a guy with her head in his chest. She flushed red and with a squeak, jumped back and stammered one apology after another. "s-sorry, I'm so sorry I don't know what came over me, I just…" she tried to say, but it came out as inaudible stammering.

The male shook his head and raised a hand, stopping Compa in her tracks. "Don't worry, I get it. You were just happy you got your legs back." He told her in a reassuring tone, much to the Nurse-In-Training's relief. "Anyways, since we have our victory here, we should go… and…" he couldn't say any more as his form fell backwards onto the ground, his Kagune receding into him, much to the shock of the girls.

"Vent?!" Nepgear cried as she caught his head and sat down, resting it on her lap. She didn't; care about what she was doing right now because she was in HDD, but if she were in her human form she'd be a stuttering mess. This was the first time a boy's head was resting on her lap after all. "Are you okay? Please don't die, say something!"

Weakly opening his eyes, Vent mustered some of his remaining strength to speak, "it's okay… just need to rest a little. Those RC Transfusions took up a lot of my energy, so I should rest up a bit." He told them, grimacing at his weakened state. It was humiliating, being brought down low in front of his comrades like this. Now he understood a little of what IF had felt like when she said that robot he killed cleaned her clock in the Gamindustri Graveyard.

"Oh, I see…" Nepgear muttered as she looked his body over. Trying to hold in her blush she tried to change the subject, "anyways, is good that you won, we were able to stop the Mascot's destruction." She commented, getting nods of agreement from the others save for Vent.

That was when a new voice jumped into their conversation, "that is indeed true, CPU Candidate." Eyes widening, they shot up, quickly turning towards the source of the voice to find that the Mascot now was floating before them, encased in a purple orb of power. "It appears that things have become dire since I last woke."

"Uh… guys? Could one of you um, I don't know, help me up please? I kinda can't move here."

They all flushed in embarrassment, realising that they had forgotten about their injured party member. "o-oh, I'm sorry Vent. Here, I'll help you up." Nepgear proclaimed with a blush, quickly grabbing his arm and putting it around her shoulders, helping Vent to his feet while allowing him to put some of his weight on her. The male aimed a thankful look towards the Candidate, who felt ashamed that she had forgotten about her friend so quickly.

Meanwhile, the Mascot watched this interaction, but when it heard Vent's name its form seemed to jump a little, "Vent? That name… #gasp# Can it be…? Did they really…?" it muttered to itself in shock.

The mentioned male looked up, his Ghoul hearing having picked up the Mascot's words as he raised a brow at it, "uh, you alright Mrs Mascot? You seemed kind of freaked out or something…" he asked it, while mentally he was recording what she said for further reference. He may not care to return home at this time, but it didn't mean he wouldn't ask when the answers were available to him.

"Hmm? It is of no importance. In any case, I was watching you al during that battle. It seems this enemy has grown powerful, enough to give the Candidates and the CPUs a hard time, although I am unaware of what has transpired during my slumber." The Mascot replied, and the male decided to drop it for now in favour of other matters. 'If those two did indeed being this boy here… this world must be in a crisis indeed…'

Unaware of the Mascot's thoughts on the matter, Nepgear decided to try and speak to it. "Um, Mrs Mascot…. I really need your help, the world is in danger and your power will be needed." At first she was unsure and nervous like she would be in her human form, but when she glanced to Vent and IF, two of the strongest people she knew, Nepgear's heart stirred. She wanted to be brave just like they were, brave enough so that she could face the same challenges that they did on a daily basis and come out on top.

She was regarded by the Mascot for a few moments, as it began to consider what was going on. In the end, it came to a decision, "while I do not know what is happening, I can guess that it must be significant enough for you to seek out my location. Very well, I shall grant you the power I have right now." After saying that, the Mascot seemed to glow brightly, and the orb-like energy shell around it shot forth a purple beam right into Nepgear's chest, enveloping her in a skin-shaped aura for a few seconds.

"Goodness…" the CPU Candidate breathed in awe, as she looked herself over. She felt the power of the Mascot flowing through her, and couldn't help but marvel at the sheer vastness of it. If he could compare it to her own power as a Goddess, it would be like comparing the size of a raindrop to an entire ocean. She hadn't felt like this in, well, ever really, so it was a refreshing experience to have.

Soon enough, the aura receded inside of her, leaving her with the feeling of something occupying a piece of her soul. "CPU Candidate, all of her companions, and you: Vent, I may not know the full story of what has happened since I began my long slumber…" the Mascot said while slowly floating up towards the skies. It was clear that she was leaving soon enough with its task done and its location compromised. "I have faith that you will use my power for a just cause." With that last message, the Mascot vanished in a purple flash.

"And the Mascot just disappeared completely." IF said, stating the obvious while watching where it had vanished from with a hand on her hip. She figured it was for the best, since the location was compromised so it had to relocate to somewhere else so it could continue its work in peace. Turning to the others, IF noticed that Vent had pulled himself away from the CPU Candidate, and was standing on his own now. "yo dude, you sure you should be up right now? You still look a little pale there." She asked in concern.

The male however shrugged it off with a wave, panting slightly as he bent over, his hands on his kneecaps for support. "I'm fine… just need to gain some new RC Cells from the monsters here… I'll get them when we leave." He told her through his pants, before looking up at Nepgear, "but damn, wasn't that a close shave, huh Nepgear?"

"Yes," Nepgear nodded with a bright smile on her face as she looked to IF and Vent both, "but we managed thanks to both of you, Vent and IF." The male raised a brow at this, wondering how he had contributed to the girl's regaining of her confidence enough for her to transform.

Meanwhile, IF chuckled with a blush on her face, remembering the events that led to the girl's transformation, "hehehe…" she chuckled with bashfulness, scratching the side of her jaw with her index finger. "It was a little embarrassing though…" she admitted, shifting the finger so she could twirl one of her bangs.

"Uh, quick question, what did I do towards your transformation, Nepgear?" Vent asked in confusion, pointing to himself. The memory of the battle was fresh in his mind but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what the heck had given Nepgear confidence from him.

The Candidate responded as she shifted her gaze to him, "it's simple silly, you fought that Underling, then that mean guy all by yourself giving IF the time to give that pep talk. You looked…" she looked to the side with a shy smile and a blush on her face as she recalled watching him fight, "… really cool."

… Vent had little he could say to that. He made to open his mouth to speak but then shut it right after when the words refused to leave his mouth. Embarrassment coursed through him as he looked to the ground nervously, rubbing the back of his head, "o-oh, really?" he finally got words out, and they were drunk with his anxiety right now. He wasn't used to someone complimenting him like this, especially someone of high standing like Nepgear. Histoire may have started a trend that would likely fluster him for years to come.

While this was going on, Compa, whom had been silent for this entire time, furrowed her brow and let loose a pout, clearly displeased with something. This something was revealed moments later though, "No fair… Iffy and Ven-Ven got to be all lovey-dovey with Ge-Ge…" she said while huffing, acting like a child who didn't get what she wanted.

Both teens whirled on her, each having their own responses to that one. "Pretty sure that's not something you should be jealous of, Compa!" Vent protested, the brunette woman of the group quickly nodding her head in agreement with a flustered blush on her face.

"Th-that's right, what he said! I-it's not like that at all, idiot! Um, oh! Let's hurry back and report this to Histoire!" She bellowed, much to the amusement of the others. Although, they knew she had a point, since they got what they came here for, they should report to Histoire so they could plan their next move. But before they could leave, IF turned her head towards the sole male of the group. "And Vent?"

"Y-Yeah?"

Her eyes narrowed sharply at him, her expression clearly stating that this would not be changed. "We'll expect a story about who that guy was and what your connection is with him, and don't bother trying to jump around the issue."

"Got it, after this it'll be pointless hiding it from you all anyways. It'll be best if I got it out in the open now."

* * *

Returning to one of their hidden bases in Lastation, a wounded Tatara made his way through the corridors, the other members of their organisation keeping a wide berth from him with fear in their steps. Tatara was known to be cold and stoic, but if there was something that angered him, the slightest mistake could lead to one being minced by a fast Bikaku slash.

And right now, the man looked extremely irritated, and it showed on his visible facial features. The man ended up in a large circular room, one with nothing but a series of screens on the walls. The man went to the centre of the room and tapped several buttons on the console there, and the screens soon turned into static. Tatara lowered his head and bowed in reverence before the screens as four figures could be seen on the screens. "I have news from my mission that you will be interested to hear, my Lady."

"Oh? Do tell. From what we have been informed, you appear to have gotten your ass handed to you by that stupid CPU old hag." One of the figures snorted while scoffing at the man, greatly irritating Tatara, though he didn't show his irritation. "Why, I bet that if a mere CPU beat you, then your kind may not be as hyped as it is cracked up to be."

"Don't be foolish, Trick!" yelled another figure. This one sounded robotic and mechanical, sort of like the robot in the Gamindustri Graveyard but with more sanity and intelligence. It stood to reason that this one was the more benevolent of the two when it came to matters concerning their enemy. "Their kind has been of great use to us since we brought them from their world to here. Many of Lastation, Leanbox and Lowee Shares have become ours thanks to them."

That was when the sole feminine figure decided to end their petty conflict, "enough the two of you." She spoke calmly, but with a tension that both were able to perceive in her words. The two figures became silent, knowing that it was wise to not piss the female off when she uses THAT tone. "Now tell us, what is it that you found at the Mascot's location?"

"I found the one you told me about, Lady Magic. It appears the boy has grown significantly since he last encountered Judge. If I were to guess, I would say he would be approaching the level of HIM soon enough, with his development."


	11. Chapter 11 - Ghoulish Explanations

**Chapter 11 - Ghoulish explanations**

"It appears that the 5 of you have succeeded in securing the power of Planeptune's Mascot…" Histoire complimented with a smile. She, along with the five heroes were in the main hall of the Basilicom, discussing their next move. IF had filled her in on what had happened, from arriving at the Dungeon to leaving it after retrieving the Mascot's power. Then, her smile fell and a complicated expression formed on her face, "however…"

The brunette Guild Agent nodded her head with a stern and grave frown, already knowing what the Oracle was thinking with regards to this new information. "Yeah… it's been confirmed on our end that ASIC is aware of the Mascots' existence as well." She spoke with worry seeping from her words. It was just as bad as they feared, ASIC must have had access to information that had long since been forgotten by regular libraries, or their Deity must have been helping them despite not being able to fully manifest its physical form in this world. Just like what Vent had predicted.

Sometimes she wished he was wrong.

Compa added in another bit of concerning news, "That mean guy said that they would be going after Lastation's Mascot next." She said, clutching her hands over her chest and shuddering at the mental image of the dual Kakugan eyes that Tatara possessed. She had seen several scary monsters in her time in Gamindustri, but none of them had eyes as twisted and predatory as those did.

Usually, monsters didn't look as threatening as the stories told they were. In fact, some of them looked rather... weird, enough to detract from the scary factor. There was a reason why so many Adventurers had little difficulty dealing with the random monster encounters they have on the roads, while normal civilians were unable to even scratch them. It was kind of sad, if one thought about it, but people generally didn't train to defend themselvesd in case of monster attacks, preferring to let the military or the CPUs do it instead so they could live peacefully.

But these Ghouls... Every time she remembered that encounter with Tatara, her body experienced countless uncontrollable shudders, like she was bare naked in the middle of the coldest of Lowee habitats. She never felt so frightened when she saw that twisted, evil stare that man had, his black and red Kakugan eyes staring down into her soul like she was nothing more than an ant to him, an ant with no other place but beneath his boot. It was an experience normal Gamindustri monsters could never provoke as intensely as that man could, and Compa hoped she'd never come across him again. Even that though was not soon enough, in her opinion, and what was worse was that, if Vent's expressions of anxiety he was sporting right now were any indication, then the whole Ghoul Situation was actually way worse than what she initially realised.

For IF, Compa suspected that she had similar fears to her when thinking about that Ghoul known as Tatara, but not only that, she also feared how easily they were defeated. Compa could recall it all with vivid clarity, like looking through a high quality camera as the events played with a video-like format within her mind's eye. She could vividly see how fast that appendage that came out of the Ghoul was, how it easily sliced through IF's arm and her own legs like a hot knife through butter. That alone showed both her, and likely IF and Nepgear, how powerful it was, how it was built to be a lethal weapon.

Poor Nepgear, Compa realised, glancing to the CPU Candidate who stood beside Vent. She didn't look like she was affected by what she had seen, but Compa knew that was not the case at all. After all, Nepgear's mind was still vulnerable, it hadn't completely recovered from the trauma that had been forced upon her in the Gamindustri Graveyard. To make things worse, she had to help fight monsters to save the world, and though she may wish to from the depths of her being, the trauma was still there. This Ghoul encounter would likely make that trauma worse, considering how brutal the Ghouls seemed to be.

"We should chase her quick, or she'll get there ahead of us again!" Nepgear said with urgency in her voice. What they had just went through was nothing short of a miracle. If Vent hadn't been there to stop that man, she didn't know what would have happened but chances were that it would revolve around them bleeding out in that forest or to be eaten by the monsters there.

At her words, IF recalled a detail she, along with the others, wanted to look into and turned to Vent with a certain gleam in her eyes that only showed when she wanted to know something badly, and would stop at nothing to get it, "on that note, Vent spill it, how do you know that guy from ASIC? He seemed to know of you well enough." She asked him but it was more like a command really.

One that he was adamant about obeying. Vent sighed and crossed his arms under his chest. Fortunately for him, his Kagune had fed well as they left the Dungeon, and with the increase in RC Cells he looked much healthier than before. While he could have had some normal food like a regular human being, his Ghoul side allowing him to cannibalise the monsters was a far more efficient source of RC Cells. "Well, to start off I'll have to say this: Tatara is a creature called a Ghoul, and a powerful one at that. In terms of power, he would be equal to several CPU Candidates in strength, but his true strength lies in his calculations. He's more of a commander than a fighter." He told them, recalling how much of a standing that Tatara had once in Aogiri Tree's ranks.

He remembered his first introduction in the Manga, how cold he was to Kaneki by dismissing him, even when he was revealed to be a One-Eyed Ghoul from Rize Kaneshiro's organs. He remembered every time he had made an appearance, in each of those instances he never put much effort into moving about, just standing there and letting the enemy come to him. He stood with the posture of a commander leading his troops, although it was shown how little he cared about them. Nevertheless, Tatara had shown plenty of times how he had been a lethal tactician, especially when he fought the Investigators in the sequel: Tokyo Ghoul RE, Unveiling his trump card that literally heated things to the extreme.

Just thinking about those chapters in the manga sent his nerves into overdrive.

Histoire blinked several times at this information, glancing between the girls whom were all giving Vent worried and anxious looks. She didn't like the tense atmosphere, nor did she like being left out of the loop. These 'Ghouls' seemed to be the problem, and from what she had heard from the girls, they were a problem indeed. "I am unaware of these 'Ghouls', could you explain to them and why would they be a match for a CPU Candidate?" she asked with worry. If what he said was true, an enemy that could match their Candidates in strength would be a dangerous foe to have.

For a moment, Vent remained quite, his eyes shining in a way that spoke volumes about the anxiety he was under. However, it didn't last as he began speaking in a calm, collected and almost resigned manner. "Alright, I'd better explain in detail: Ghouls are a species of human that are superior to a human in every category: speed, power, etc. They are as close to humans as possible: They normally have the same physical appearance and intelligence as a human with the exception of diet, mentality, and inner biology. In essence, they are the predators of humanity."

Compa hummed to herself as they digested this information. It seemed that her earlier thoughts were correct, after all. These Ghouls were indeed more vicious than she had initially thought, and from what they had seen from Tatara that was likely to be an understatement. "What do you mean by predators of humans?" she asked him, although part of her felt that was an obvious question. Still though, she wanted to know the answer.

Vent shuffled in discomfort at that one. Back when reading the Manga, he didn't have to explain this or have experience with cannibalistic monsters. But now that he had fought one himself, and it was Tatara no less, he was having trouble keeping his composure. "Well, that's because Ghouls can't eat human foods like rice or pudding. It's due to an enzyme that is in their bodies, which makes all that food taste like shit to them, and can be poisonous to them." He explained while gripping his elbow joints. "Instead they have to have a special cell called RC Cells, and they exist in 2 sources: Humans or other Ghouls. Essentially, they're Cannibals."

A collection of horrified gasps came from the girls as their faces lost all colour. "C-C-CANNIBALS?! YOU MEAN THEY EAT PEOPLE?!" IF shrieked in horror and mortification. Images of such an even filled her mind, and she barely resisted the urge to throw up her stomach's contents. Those images were of things that she did NOT want to see, ever.

Cannibals. In basic terms, this was used to describe people who eat other people. According to what he'd seen, Vent had assumed that Cannibalism was unheard of in Gamindustri. True, monsters attack and eat people, but they were monsters, they needed to eat to survive. It was their instincts, how they were built fundamentally. All things eat, this can be said for any living organism. However, the prospect of people eating each other must have never even processed their minds, hence why they had such a reaction. Honestly, Vent didn't expect such a reaction, sure there would be shock and fear, but he didn't expect it to this extent.

Nevertheless, if they were this bad on the prospect of Cannibals, the whole story is going to be a wild ride. The male nodded, his lips set in a firm line. "yeah, but there's more. When a ghoul enters an extreme state of hunger, they will suffer very painful headaches and lose all reason, causing them to become driven by instinct alone. They will feed on any available source of human meat to end this state… even that of close friends. The pain and hunger drowns out all reason." He recited some of the words he'd seen Touka tell Kaneki in the earlier chapters of the Manga, and suddenly they felt like they were much more heavy than before.

"No way… that's…" Compa couldn't believe it, and neither could Nepgear who looked like she had seen her worst nightmare come to life. Or rather, that fear had always been there, but with the reveals that were coming, it was gradually breaking out of its shell.

With urging from Histoire to continue so they could get this over with quickly, Vent continued. "Ghouls have a high physical capability and are four to seven times stronger than the average human: They are able to send the average human flying if they strike with enough force, and can penetrate a human's body with their bare hands. They are also able to jump several meters high. If that's not bad enough, they also have enhanced senses. They can smell people or meat from afar and tell humans and ghouls apart by their scent. They also have a heightened sense of hearing that even allows some ghouls to discern individual footsteps far away."

Now came the part he was, admittingly, eager to explain as Vent released his Rinkaku. 2 Tentacles stabbed the ground beside him while the others looked like they were trying to sharpen each other's tips. "But their main power lies within a special organ in their bodies called a Kakuhou. With this organ, RC cells harden and break through the skin to form their main weapon: The Kagune, a muscle protrusion that's commonly described as their 'claws.' These Kagune take a variety of forms, and can be manipulated depending on how intelligent the Ghoul is. The size of one is determined by the amount of RC Cells inside it while the shape is determined by one's imagination. Ghouls also have an identifying feature known as a Kakugan, an affliction manifesting in the eyes as red irises surrounded by a black sclera. A ghoul's Kakugan can appear either by their own will, due to hunger or from using their Kagune."

Taking a moment to breathe, Vent paused to let that information sink in, his Rinkaku pausing its ministrations. He could see that the information was having an impact on these girls, but he had to continue, and he was only explaining the basics here. "Ghouls have a high regenerative ability: Small wounds and fractures heal in a matter of seconds to a day. Larger wounds take longer to heal, but will usually heal after a few days, as long as the ghoul has an adequate food supply. Ghouls can quickly metabolize their food to boost their regeneration in a pinch. This regenerative ability varies among individuals, with some ghouls exhibiting the ability to reattach severed body parts or regrow detached limbs. In extreme cases of regenerative ability, some powerful ghouls can even heal severe brain injuries, reattach their severed head or upper body, and regrow large sections of their bodies."

Images of Noro, a Ghoul who could reattach his head and torso like it was no big deal, and Kanae who could do something similar with her head, filled his mind. there were theories that Kanae had been experimented on when she was tortured though, implanted with stronger RC Cells from either Noro or the One Eyed Owl's Kagune, empowering her regeneration abilities. Nevertheless, these two were perfect examples of how powerful a Ghoul's healing ability could become. Hell, even Seidou's healing was impressive to be able to regrow an entire arm when it, along with the shoulder, was destroyed and his heart damaged.

Yeah, Ghoul regeneration could be pretty OP.

"These Ghouls…" Nepgear spoke, making Vent pause his explanation as he turned to her. She was shaking like a leaf in horror at the explanation being given, as she remembered the sheer strength shown by Tatara back when they fought him. And from what she had seen from Vent and heard, she guessed that he had been holding back a LOT of his power when he sliced through IF and Compa. That thought alone sent chills up her spine, phantom sounds of flesh being torn resonating through her mind, and she was expected to fight against creatures like that? "They sound like they're near invincible. And utterly terrifying…"

The male nodded, and decided to deliver some good news, after all the dread they were excluding some good news would help greatly. He placed a Tentacle on top of her shoulder to ease Nepgear's thoughts. He did the same for IF and Compa, and contrary to popular assumptions, the girls did indeed relax at the feeling. Perhaps it was due to the fact that it was a familiar Kagune, or that it was Vent's, whose to say? "Though powerful and durable predators, ghouls are still far from immortal. Despite their superior physical status, ghouls age at the same rate as humans. All ghouls, though resistant to damage from man-made objects, are vulnerable to damage or modifications made to their mucous membranes, such as nostrils, eyes, ears, and lips. Generally, a ghoul will die if it suffers massive trauma that proves fatal before its innate healing ability can stabilize its condition. The most damage that can be inflicted to a Ghoul usually comes from other ghouls, as they have the physical strength and the use of their Kagune that can deal heavy damage to a Ghoul."

IF hummed at that, looking down while engaging her brain to try and process what was being told. "I see… so if we have a strong enough weapon we can effectively fight them, right?" she asked, getting a nod from the teen. "Then Nepgear should be alright, she has her HDD weapon if we were to encounter them again. But the rest of us will have to figure out a way to fight them ourselves."

It made sense in her mind, while Nepgear and Vent were capable of defending themselves, the former because of her being a CPU Candidate who could strike hard with her HDD form, and the latter due to his Kagune having the same 'toughness' as their enemies, herself and Compa would be next to useless if their weapons couldn't do jack shit to them, plus they didn't have a lot of Skill attacks that could be useful, as while her DEMON FLAMES was damaging, it took a lot of her energy, plus Ghouls could potentially escape the blast radius it had. Compa, well, she was self-explanatory.

While he wanted to ensure that he was the only one who fought the Ghouls, considering his condition, Vent could see the logic that was being applied here. He wouldn't always be able to win against them especially the stronger Ghouls like Tatara, so they would need their own means of protection against them. Perhaps he could look into that for them as well, since he had the most knowledge on Ghouls right now.

"This all sounds amazing yet scary and all… but what does this have to do with that mean guy knowing you? And, where do you fit in with all of this, Ven-Ven?" Compa suddenly asked after a moment of silence passed by them. The male's eyes widened in surprise at her question, and while it was a good one he had hoped she wouldn't bring it up. Nevertheless, he had gotten this far, so might as well go all the way.

Taking a deep breath while feeling all eyes on him again, Vent prepared himself both physically and mentally for what he was about to say. "Well, he likely knows OF me because of rumours circulating about how someone with a black and red eye managed to solo some robot dude, but I'd say the real reason is because he knows I'm… unique. Remember when I told you about Ghouls having 2 Kakugan eyes?" he asked them, getting nods from the girls. "Well, there's instances where that's not entirely the case. There are several methods, but there are Ghouls called 'One-Eyed Ghouls' who are stronger than the average Ghoul, but their most iconic feature…" the male then reached up and pulled down his eyelid before activating his Kakugan, showing his mismatched eyes to them. "They possess one Kakugan."

After seeing how they recoiled slightly at his gesture, Vent smirked as he stood straight and pulled his hand away from his eyelid, his Kakugan reverting to normal. This elected relieved looks from the girls, even Histoire had looked anxious before."One-Eyed Ghouls are special because they're both Ghoul and human, a Hybrid if you will. They are stronger than both species due to Hybrid vigour, possessing the best traits of both Ghouls and humans. They have the enhanced physical abilities, senses, Kagune and regeneration. That's what I am, a One-Eyed Ghoul." He told them, shuffling nervously. "Unfortunately One-Eyed's can't eat human foods, at least if they aren't natural, so they're more like Ghouls than humans."

Histoire rubbed her chin as she processed this information. This was not something she or HER had expected when bringing Vent into their world, these Ghouls sounded like a real menace to society, and yet it was no fault of their own how they were built. Gamindustri was filled with non-human citizens all across the Nations, so it would be hypocritical to prosecute the Ghouls based on that. It all depended on circumstance really, and that was not something that should be taken lightly.

Their resident Nurse-In-Training took this information in, registering hat last bit before a new question was brought up in her mind. "Hey wait, when we talked and ate together you didn't seem so discomforted there, and you showed that you truly enjoyed the taste of my cooking, so… does that mean that you were lying and that I was hurting you?" she asked, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes at the thought. If so, she wouldn't have gone mad at him, because how could someone just up and say something like their diets were only restricted to one thing and that thing happened to be other people?

"Actually it seems I'm one of the exceptions, for some reason I'm able to eat human food still and thus can live like a normal human. No idea why but I guess it proves that Natural born One-Eyed's can do so unlike artificial ones." Vent replied, before blinking as another important fact came to him. "Oh yeah, I should probably explain that. You see, there's 2 ways for a Hybrid to be made: naturally through coitus," all of the girls blushed at the thoughts that sentence made for them. "Or through a surgery where a Ghoul's organs are implanted into human bodies, effectively transforming them for good. Naturals like me seem to be able to eat human foods, but artificial ones can't, they lose that ability for life."

They took a moment to process that, their minds lowing to a halt when they did. Judging by the tone Vent had used, it was clear that most artificial hybrids were usually forced into the role, without given a chance for a normal life. They were stripped of their humanity and forced to live as monsters, eating at their own kind just to survive. Chills ran down their spines at the thoughts running through their brains. What would it be like, for someone to just suddenly be forced to become a Hybrid, to suddenly lose your ability to eat human foods and thee enjoyment of simple pleasures? To be forced to eat your own kind for survival… that was a horrible fate to have befall yourself.

"So let me get this straight, your saying that it's possible that we not only have ASIC to worry about, but Ghouls too?" IF questioned with a strained tone. She didn't think this could get any worse than it already had. Though, karma would likely try to mess with her since fate loved to do that when things were the most stressful. "Man, can't we catch a break? We just got Gear back, and now we learn this?" she spoke… no, was IF whining? Vent hadn't seen IF whining before, so it caught him by surprise. Nevertheless, he didn't like it almost immediately after seeing it. It didn't feel natural, it didn't feel… right, to see her like that.

But before he could respond to her comments, even though the last one wasn't directed at anyone, Nepgear beat him to it. "It's alright, IF. We have Vent with us, and he's strong enough to fight them, and when push comes to shove we can rely on him and me if it boils down to it." She said while rubbing the Guild Agent's shoulder in an effort to comfort her. They couldn't tell whether or not their efforts were successful however, but it did seem that she was getting better from her motivational speech.

'Okay, I am really digging this confident Nepgear. She just has to keep it up and we'll save the CPUs in no time flat.' Vent thought to himself as he watched this interaction. He couldn't help but feel a surge of pride flow through him, pride at seeing Nepgear finally showing some passion for what they were striving for. Histoire's words echoed in his mind, that Nepgear needed to have friends who relied on her so she could be brave. He still didn't get it, but Vent did feel like he was starting to,, just a little bit, anyways. He doubted that he could ever truly grasp the thought of relying on others, but perhaps he didn't need to? Perhaps this was something relevant to only Gamindustri.

Said Oracle also seemed to share his sentiment, even if she didn't realise it as she aimed an approving, motherly gaze in Nepgear's direction. "It seems that your passion has been re lit, Nepgear." She noted, smiling like a mother would when their child shows them how good their school grades were after a hard day's work. She had her hand on her cheek while her head was leaning on it for support, a powerful look of happiness shining brightly in her eyes.

Nepgear looked up from her consolation of her brunette friend and chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her head in a timid manner. She wasn't used to such compliments from the Oracle, and it showed with her mildly anxious expression. At least it was mild, compared to the full on train wreck she was before. "Um, well, I'm still fighting off some fears, but I should be fine now." She said while her friend got to her feet. She may look alright, but there were some still clawing at her mind. For a while, she felt that she'd be fighting them for a WHILE, but with her friends by her side, then she could prove that she was as good as her sister.

"Excellent." Histoire responded with pride, glad that the Candidate had her resolve again. It reminded her so much of what Vent was like when he first came to Gamindustri, to the point where she could see the resemblance between them. "I suggest you do as I said then, and head over to Lastation next. If what we know is accurate, they will already have started their search there. Regain the Shares ASIC took from us and find the other Mascots. Oh!" Her eyes widened when a detail that previously skipped her mind, appeared in a flash through her memory reminding Histoire of its importance. "I forgot to give you an important piece of advice."

Advice from the Oracle which is a tome containing the world's History? That would be extremely helpful, Vent summarized in his mind as Compa decided to interject into the conversation between them. "What is it?"

"CPU Candidates reside in both Lastation and Lowee. I recommend that you seek their aid on your journey as well."

'Huh? Only those two? She didn't mention Leanbox when she said that CPU Candidates resided in those other nations. Does that mean that Leanbox has no Candidate or CPU? Well shit, I predict that ASIC will have a field day there.' Vent thought in surprise, caught off guard by this information. If what his predictions told him was true, Leanbox would be the biggest hurdle to navigate through the entire journey to find the Mascots.

"That would make them Noire and Blanc's younger sisters…"

"CPU Candidates… other girls like me…"

Compa and Nepgear had their own comments and opinions about this info, and when Vet heard the latter he detected a slight tone of… awe? Excitement? Maybe a little bit of both, which explained what she felt about meeting those girls as clear as crystal to him. She likely hadn't heard of these Candidates before now based off her initial reactions to the subject, so she must have been thinking she was the only one of her kind, a lonely existence. That was… a grim subject to think about indeed. Vent hoped that those encounters would go smoothly, but given Nepgear's shy and timid personality that likely wouldn't happen. He'll have to prepare to step in if the need arises.

"Each situation has their own situation to deal with so they may refuse at first." Histoire continued her explanation while giving them an intense stare to show how crucial her next words were, "… but making contact is vital. After all, I'm sure they share your desire to save their sisters."

Glancing down at one of her phones that IF had just pulled out, she checked the time and gave a frown."We'll have to wait till tomorrow to do this then, it's getting pretty ate and I bet we'd do better fully rested and with full stomachs." She advised them. As if on cue, Nepgear's stomach began to grumble, expressing its desire to have food inside it. The Candidate blushed crimson in embarrassment, holding her stomach as if to shield it from the eyes of those watching her.

"Well, the Nep-stomach has spoken." Compa said cheerily, maybe a little too cheerily. Truth was, the revelations about Vent's true nature had rattled her and filled her with the intense desire to make sure he tasted her cooking and found it to be the most delicious thing he'd ever tasted. "Alrightie everyone let's go over to my house. I'll whip us up some grub."

* * *

That night, Vent and the others stayed at Compa's house, experiencing her cooking first hand. The male had already done so several times after particularly exhausting Quests but no matter what he still couldn't get used to how good the cream haired girl was. It was like she had gone to a school that was solely focused on cooking and had many cooking battles to determine how great a standing they had in the school's society.

Nevertheless, the male savoured this experience to the fullest, for he could tell just from how Compa looked at him that what he had said unnerved her, no, it rattled her deeply. To her, it would seem that hurting someone with something she loved doing was like a knife to the gut to her. Someone as cheery and innocent as Compa couldn't comprehend the fact that something she put her heart and soul into, something that made lots of people smile and laugh in happiness, could actually be a deadly poison that caused agony and misery to some.

A part of him felt guilty for it, since it felt that it was partially his fault for telling them about the Ghouls and their… dark diet. No matter what he just couldn't get those thoughts out of his head, thoughts that said he was the one who hurt her which made a bitter taste form in his mouth. Vent never liked those who hurt innocents, it was part of his nature as a Vigilante. So, to feel that his own nature was causing another distress was the ultimate blow to his pride as a decent person.

Afterwards, the others had decided to head to bed. Compa's house had several guest rooms that she would use whenever she would take in patients to be treated, among other things that Vent heard Compa talk about with her friends back in the living room. The male had decided not to join their chatter, opting to go outside and sit on the rooftop, looking up at the starry sky above.

That was what he was doing now, while also leaning against the rooftop with his hands behind his head. "Hmmm… the stars here are so clear, so… numerous. This is bliss… much better than my world…" he muttered to himself, frowning when he recalled the pollution that his world was dealing with. He didn't like it, but that was the way society worked, there were so many things that humans refused to give up that caused pollution in the air.

Slightly arching his back upwards, Vent allowed his Rinkaku to manifest, its 6 Tentacles curving around him so that their tips were pointing at his face, as if they were 'looking' at him. The male then adjusted himself so that he was comfortable and didn't press needlessly on his Tentacles before reaching out and rubbing one of them on the head. The Tentacle shuddered at his touch, much to his surprise and amusement.

Part of him felt really weird, touching his Kagune like this. It felt like he was touching himself, without the clothes or skin to hide the muscle underneath. Even the armour plates felt organic, something which made sense considering they seemed to be made from condensed RC Cells. 'You know even if the girls can never see me the same way again, at least I got the opportunity to live my dream of being a One-Eyed Ghoul.' He thought to himself, chuckling in bitter amusement.

"What's got you so cheerful, Ven-Ven?"

His eyes widened when he heard Compa's voice, and his Rinkaku swiftly got into a defensive stance. Siting up the male looked to where the voice originated, seeing Compa poking her head out from outside a window. The male's brow arched at this, "uh, not much, just thinking about things. Anyways, I should be asking you that, shouldn't you be, you know, congregating with your pals in the living room?"

"Iffy's fallen asleep on the sofa with Ge-Ge, so we're the only ones up." She replied cheerily. "Iffy has such a cute sleepy face, and Ge-Ge does too. It makes waking them up feel almost like bullying in a sense." Compa then pulled herself out, and with the skill of a master parkour expert, managed to get herself onto the Rooftop through her window. The male had to marvel at her abilities, he doubted many others could boast of the same agility.

Seeing that there was no danger, his Kagune relaxed, along with his posture as Vent slumped his shoulders before falling back with his arms at his sides. Compa had decided to sit beside him while they looked to the stars together. "Really? Well, with what they went through they deserve it. They're gonna have a long journey tomorrow so they'll need all the sleep they can get." He remarked, his mind flashing all the images of the girls when they learned the truth about their new enemy.

"What about you, Ven-Ven? You need your rest just like anyone else mister. It's not healthy to neglect your sleep." Compa lectured him sternly, a hand on her hip as she waved a finger in a manner similar to one being told by their parent or parents. She was taught that sleep was the most critical ingredient in the body back in med school, and so she would be damned if she wouldn't sink it into her patients.

The male glanced at her from his spot on the rooftop, his Tentacles mimicking his head's movements as they all looked at her. "No need, I only need to sleep for a few hours, perks of being a Hybrid and a Vigilante by night." He explained, before raising a hand and allowing a Tentacle to rest its tip in his palm, which let him stroke its armoured plated.

It seemed that the reminder of his 'condition' was enough to spark memories in the cream haired girl as she seemed to tense at the mention of it. This did not go without his notice, which was like a Hawk's in comparison thanks to his enhanced senses. "You know you don't have to hide it from me Compa, I know I must disgust you with what I do, and what I must continue to do for the goal we both share." He informed her, not looking into her eyes. He didn't need to, Vent already knew she was afraid, afraid of him or to be more specific his Ghoul side. The side of him that had almost killed her.

"U-um, that's… well, um…" Compa stuttered, eyes darting around to find something interesting to look at, anything other than the boy before her. She knew it wasn't right to be afraid of him, not when he had done so much for her, and their friends. But when she thought about his Ghoul side, she immediately got the memory of having her legs cut off by Tatara, the memory of seeing her friends nearly get cut to pieces by that spindly Kagune. No matter what, she couldn't get those images out of her head, and it frightened her beyond belief, made worse by both what Vent had told them and the fact that they would have to face them again.

In her eyes, Ghouls were seemingly different in many ways from the average monsters, although with the ASIC having those newer monsters enter the food chains around Gamindustri she didn't know what the average monster was like anymore. But she did know one thing, and that was that they seemed to pale in comparison to Ghouls, not just in weaponry but in abilities. Sure monsters have strong abilities, but Ghouls and humans were so difficult to tell apart because they physically are identical, which means they could be living within their society in secret constantly eating and killing people with nobody being the wiser. Such a creature had never been recorded in the Guild Bestiary before, so they were not prepared for such a monster.

"You know; I may not know much about all this 'relying on others' business…" the words the male spoke broke Compa from her musings while also getting her attention. She looked up at him in confusion while tilting her head, prompting Vent to continue as he lifted one knee to his chest to rest one of his arms on it. "But from what I've seen from Nepgear it does a load of good for you girls so I'll say this. You don't need to be afraid, I'll make sure those Ghouls will never touch you again, and not just me, but Nepgear and IF too. They might have similar fears to you, so confide in them and you'll do fine."

The entirety of his speech Vent never once switched his gaze from the sky to anything, but when he did finish his gaze met hers for the first time since his blatant unravelling of her true feelings about Ghouls. His mismatched eyes bore into hers, electing a flinch from the girl, "I mean, you've gone this far without fear, so going the rest of the way shouldn't be too hard, right?" he asked while raising a brow and smirking in amusement.

Hearing his words, Compa began to think, and soon enough she realised he had a point. She had gone this far in their quest to save Nepgear and the others, so why should she falter now? Sure things have gotten tougher, no, a LOT tougher, but was that really so unexpected? ASIC was a large organisation, so things like this? They were well within ASIC's power. They just had to work around it…

Just like they always did.

"I… you right Ven-Ven… I feel a lot better after hearing that. Phew…" she released a breath that she didn't realise she had been holding, feeling a lot of her anxieties and fears leave her system through that sigh, which was a welcome relief to the young Nurse-In-Training. Afterwards, she opened her eyes, now clear of fear of the male before her, and she gave a small heartfelt smile, "thank you, that really, really helped…"

If this was what it felt like to be complimented for, then Vent loved it. He had gotten more praise for what he did than when he was back in his own world. Maybe that was because of… other factors, but it still felt good. The male aimed a grateful smile towards Compa with a nod, "no problem. Since we're fighting together, it'll help if you're not afraid of me." He mused with an amused eyebrow raise, getting a small giggle from the girl as they looked up at the stars above them.

This whole situation, with him and Compa sitting on the same roof, combined with what they had just discussed, made Vent think of a song, one he liked listening to aside from Unravel. "Hey Compa, wanna listen to a song? I think it's fitting for what we're doing here." He asked her, quickly pulling out his phone and some headphones. He didn't want to wake the others, but he did want to make sure she listened to the song.

"Hmm, okay, sure." Compa replied with a nod. She wanted to know more about him, so listening to the songs he listened to would give her a better idea for his character. Putting the earphones into her ear buds and connecting them to the phone, Vent searched and found the song titled 'Otherwise Soldiers' before pressing play:

 **It's time to strap our boots on**

 **This is a perfect day to die**

 **Wipe the blood out of our eyes**

 **In this life there's no surrender**

 **There's nothing left for us to do**

 **Find the strength to see this through**

 **We are the ones who will never be broken**

 **With our final breath**

 **We'll fight to the death**

 **We are soldiers, we are soldiers**

 **Woah, woah, woah whoa**

 **We are soldiers**

 **I stand here right beside you**

 **Tonight we're fighting for our lives**

 **Let me hear your battle cry**

 **Your battle cry**

 **We are the ones who will never be broken**

 **With our final breath**

 **We'll fight to the death**

 **We are soldiers, we are soldiers**

 **We are the ones who will not go unspoken (not go unspoken)**

 **No, we will not sleep**

 **We are not sheep**

 **We are soldiers, we are soldiers**

 **Yeah**

 **We stand shoulder to shoulder**

 **We stand shoulder to shoulder**

 **We stand shoulder to shoulder**

 **You can't erase us**

 **You'll just have to face us**

 **We stand shoulder to shoulder**

 **We stand shoulder to shoulder**

 **We stand shoulder to shoulder**

 **You can't erase us**

 **You'll just have to face us**

 **We are the ones who will never be broken (never be broken)**

 **With our final breath**

 **We'll fight to the death**

 **We are soldiers, we are soldiers**

 **We are the ones who will not go unspoken (not go unspoken)**

 **No, we will not sleep**

 **We are not sheep**

 **We are soldiers, we are soldiers**

 **Yeah**

 **Woah, woah, woah whoa**

 **We are soldiers**

 **Woah, woah, woah whoa**

 **We are soldiers**

 **Woah, woah, woah whoa**

 **We are soldiers**

The song ended there and Compa had to stop herself from shuffling from side to side at the beat it had. It was a very upbeat song, and the lyrics just screamed about pushing through when the times were tough. Opening her previously closed eyes, Compa turned to Vent as she unplugged her ear buds. "That was a great song, Ven-Ven! I could see why you think it'd be appropriate for this situation; it really gives you the courage to move forward." She praised, getting a chuckle out of the male.

"Yep, it's a song tribute to those who die in wars, teaching us that no matter how bad things are getting, one has to push forward if they want to reach their goal. It gives us resolve, determination and the desire to win." He explained, taking his phone and earphones back. "Found this masterpiece while surfing the net. It's played by a band called 'Otherwise', which was formed in my world's 2003."

Compa hummed at the new knowledge about Vent's world, still playing it over and over in her head. She knew what he meant by how much it fit their situation. "Iffy would like this one, she likes bands who have a beat to them." She mused to herself as she reflected on every band that IF had shown her along their many years of knowing each other. While she didn't like others knowing, IF did have a side of her that liked things that could make her dance to them, and this song seemed to be one she could relate to on top of that.

"Yeah, that does seem like something IF would have as part of her personality. She oddly reminds me of a tomboy, she's definitely not your average damsel in distress." Vent mused with a wry smile, humming thoughtfully as he recalled the missions that he had undertaken with the Guild Agent. It was enough for him to see that IF preferred to be on the front lines fighting the good fight rather than being trapped in a castle waiting for someone to save her. He admired that about her, to the point of respecting the hell out of her as a soldier.

At this, Compa smiled knowingly as she too thought about her friend. "Yep, Iffy's definitely not a princess type, she's more of a 'hands-on' type of girl." She remarked blissfully.

'… That almost sounds like a sexual innuendo, I think…' he thought, not entirely sure how to take that comment. Combined with how he had heard it made for a pretty awkward feeling to surge within his chest. Putting it down to Compa's innocence, Vent pushed on from that subject entirely. "… anyways, aside from our resident Merc, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Why did you want to become a nurse?"

"Eh?" blinking owlishly, Compa felt unprepared for the question that he had asked her unexpectedly. Momentarily caught off guard, she tried to regain her composure, her surprised face lasting a few moments. Then, it shifted to a melancholy one as she looked down at the ground below, trying to form the right words to answer that question. "W-well… remember when I told you about my grandfather when we were at the Café?"

Vent nodded, recalling that conversation. She had told him her grandfather had raised her in the stead of her parents, and fortunately for him he wasn't so oblivious that he didn't notice the signs, and thus didn't pry into that can of worms. It sounded too personal for that setting anyways, so he never bothered bringing it up again. Now though, it seemed that topic was finally coming to light.

"Well, my parents were killed by monsters shortly after my first birthday, so I don't really remember them." He had to clench his fists at that, not liking how a kind girl like her lost her family that young. "Then my Grandfather took me in, raising me like I was his own. Life was perfect for me despite my parents passing up till when I was 11, when my Grandpa's illness began. The doctors said that it was a terminal illness, and that he would only live for 3 to 2 years at most."

Compa began to shake a little but when he gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze, she aimed a grateful smile to him as a reward for his troubles before continuing, "Afterwards I made sure to learn everything I could of nursing, helping my grandfather around the house, making sure he got his medicine and giving him the appropriate foods. He called me his little nurse at the time, which made me so happy. I didn't want him to go, you know. So, when he finally did pass away, I was heartbroken, and the next couple years were very lonely… then, I met Iffy, and Nep-Nep, and Ge-Ge and all the other CPUs. They made my life happy and joyful again, so life turned out well in the end."

Staring at the girl beside him, Vent had to admit one thing: this girl had guts, to keep going through odds like that and turn out how she is today. And it was stuff like that he respected. So few had the guts that Compa and IF displayed, it was pitiful. "I see… well then Compa, I'm glad that you have such a strong determination. Never give up your dream, ya hear? That willpower will get you there. Also, I may not know him and you may have heard it already but apologies about your grandfather. I would have liked to meet him one day." He said, sighing wistfully. He'd have loved to meet her grandfather, so he could praise the man for raising Compa the way he did. After thinking this, Vent flipped onto his feet before heading back down through the window that she had used earlier. His words echoed into the bight outside. "In any case, we should head inside now, it's late and we have a long day tomorrow."


	12. Chapter 12 - To Lastation!

**Chapter 12 To Lastation!**

The following morning, the trio made their way to the Basilicom. They intended to say goodbye to Histoire in person since they wouldn't be seeing her for a while. Also because she wanted to confirm something with Vent. While they were walking, Nepgear turned to IF and made a query, "Hey IF, Histoire is your boss over at the Guild right?" she asked her, getting a raised eyebrow from the brunette.

'Oh yeah, I do recall that being mentioned before in passing, but I don't remember where…' Vent thought in recognition as he listened in to their chat. He could tell that Compa was doing the same thing, so he didn't feel too bad. 'Now that I think about it, Histoire DEFINITELY needs a vacation, she has a lot of weight on her shoulders.'

"Yeah," IF answered while pocketing her hands in her Trench Coat while looking up at the ceiling. "She's the Oracle and the Guild's manager. It's amazing that she can handle both roles." She said with pride, and a small undertone of concern, so that meant that he wasn't the only one who thought that Histoire needed a break.

This topic piqued both Nepgear and Vent's interest even more than it did before, and the CPU Candidate decided to voice her opinion first before the male could. "How does Histoire act at the Guild? I only know her as an Oracle, so…" she trailed off at the end, but they didn't need to listen to all her sentence to figure out what she was trying to say. Vent had to admit, he was curious himself, it wasn't very often that he and Histoire got a chance to talk, as previously stated in the past, so hearing what she was like when he wasn't around was something he would like to know.

"Well…" IF began, pausing to come up with an adequate answer for the two of them. She soon responded with a shrug of her shoulders, her hands still in her pockets, "She seems to know everything… and can do almost anything… but…" her brow furrowed and twitched in mild irritation. It was the kind of twitch one would get when they see someone they've known for a long time display their quirky behaviour that was such a usual sight that it barely bothered them anymore.

In her head, IF began remembering what she had seen of her boss one time when she was tasked with being her bodyguard for the day. IF was a well trusted Agent in the Guild, and one of their senior Agents, so a task such as guarding the Oracle usually fell to her. What followed was what could be described as annoying chaos:

One Operative, a middle-aged man who wore the white and purple Planeptune robes that indicated he was a staff member, approached Histoire who had finished some business with another operative. Lady Histoire! What are the estimated Co-Ordinance for ASIC's base of operations this time?!" he asked her politely et with a tone of urgency as he hurriedly prepared a notebook and pen.

Turning to him on her book, Histoire replied calmly, "I am currently Calculating. The result will be ready in about 3 days." She replied. The Operative groaned in dismay, not liking that answer as he wailed dramatically, throwing his notebook into the air. "That's way too slow!"

While that operative was weeping into his Notebook with stress and frustration released from those tears, another Operative jogged up to her to take her attention, carrying a poster of a person they suspected to be a secret follower of Arfoire with a criminal record.: Lady Histoire! Do you have any information on this suspect?

IF at the time recognised him, he was an information broker who had betrayed his oath of neutrality, the oath to not choose sides only to give information at the right price, to supply ASIC with knowledge about their battle plans before they could be implemented. He had been able to evade capture many times, and this would be another attempt to locate him.

The Tome hummed in thought as she scanned the poster. It looked like she couldn't quite place who this person was yet. "That is a familiar face, but I will need three hours to remember." She replied, confirming her bodyguard's earlier thoughts and making her sweat drop.

Unlike his first colleague, this Operative only sighed in frustration. "Can't you do it in three minutes?" he mumbled under his breath before leaving the room, leaving the poster so Histoire could figure it out at her best convenience. The reason why he didn't freak out and do a whole 'drama queen' act was because as one of the senior staff members he was privy to Histoire's… habits.

After he left, a third Operative, this one a woman this time, wearing a more feminine styled robe, walked up to her calmly with a clipboard in hand. "Pardon me, Lady Histoire." She spoke regally and professionally, getting the blonde woman's attention. "I require a map of all known distribution points of Arfoire Products." She requested while showing her work on the clipboard.

Taking the clipboard in her tiny hands, Histoire looked the details over before her gaze flickered back to the female operative. "I can prepare that for you," she began with a small smile, which raised the woman's hopes slightly, before it tilted into a frown and sent her hopes crashing to the ground to burn in hell forever. "However compiling the data and mapping it out will take about three months." She told her.

The female Operative groaned, scratching her scalp with her recently polished nails in frustration. "In three months, the entire map will be outdated!"

Opening her eyes after that trip down memory lane, IF grinned sheepishly, "she takes way too damn long to do anything." She then pointedly stared at Vent who was chuckling in amusement at the story, "I guess this amuses you Vent?" she asked, slowly smirking at the male. She knew that he had likely already noticed her quirks; he was an observant man after all.

The male Hybrid nodded with a grin of his own, snickering while trying to stop his laughter. "Yeah, I noticed it pretty much the first few days after we met her. And the only reason I took so long was because I never really was around her all that much. I was too busy with other matters like questing and prepping." He said between snickers. Vent knew it was rude to comment on one's personality quirks, but this time he couldn't help it. Best to get this out now while Histoire wasn't around to scold him. "She usually takes from 3 minutes to years to do anything, kind of a con when considering the info, she has at her disposal."

Nepgear laughed nervously, compared to Vent's snickers. "Hahahaha… that's our Histoire."

* * *

Finally, they reached the Basilicom and found Histoire talking to a pair of staff members. Oddly enough, they were the same staff members that were in IF's flashback the previous scene, and both of them wore matching expressions as that time. The Guild Agent smiled to herself at this display, before becoming stern when she saw that Histoire had noticed them. "Ah, welcome you four. I assume your nearing the time to go to Lastation next?"

"Yep." The brunette replied while taking a hand out her pocket and putting it on her hip. "We came as you requested Histoire, so what's this thing you wanted to discuss with Vent?" she questioned, getting straight to the point instead of beating round the bush. Her desire to get on with their quest was showing in her eyes.

Histoire nodded her head, the staff members she was talking to before taking their cue to leave as she focused on the new arrivals. "Yes, it has something to do with Vent, or rather, the ring he carried on his index finger. May I see it?" she asked the male, who raised a brow and wondered why Histoire would want to have a look at his Ring. It didn't seem like something important besides the fact that it was a family heirloom, but he didn't question what Histoire wanted.

Lifting his hand that had the ring on its Index finger, Vent held it before the Tome who placed her hands on both sides of his hand, gazing at the ring intently. "Hmmm…. Hmmm…. Yes, looks like I was correct. Young man, what have you been told about this weapon?" she asked him, looking up from his hand and into Vent's surprised eyes.

"Huh? This?" he questioned while gesturing to his ring. He didn't know what to feel when Histoire's hands touched his. It wasn't anything dangerous or something like that, but it didn't feel comfortable either. Perhaps it was something new about this world, since it had given him many new experiences like making friends and fighting alongside others. "all I know is that it's a family heirloom given to me by my parents. Why, you know of it or something?"

At his probing, the Oracle nodded her head, her eyes firmly gazing at the ring for a few more seconds before holding it like she was holding a scroll way bigger than her. "this here is called a 'Quad Weapon', at first I wasn't sure since it looked different than the usual weapons, however now that I look at it closely its indeed one of those."

Compa raised a brow for the first time in this chapter, "um, Histy what is a Quad weapon thingy? It sounds dangerous." She asked her with curiosity. This weapon sounded dangerous to her, but also incredibly cool at the same time.

"Quad Weapons are an old variant of weapons, Compa. I'm not surprised you do not know of them, as they are not so well known nowadays. They were originally made during the first few centuries of the Console Wars: a weapon with 4 forms: 3 for combat and the fourth for transport purposes. They were made so that soldiers could have several different styles to work with in battle, catching their enemy off guard. However, they have since fallen out of use when peace reined over Gamindustri. Only a handful of them exist right now." Histoire explained, looking down at the Quad Weapon that Vent seemed to possess. "I had long since thought they were all lost to history, but to see one again… it gives me great nostalgia..."

The way she said that last part indicated that Histoire liked these weapons, not for their use but because of what they represented: the higher extent of humanity's ingenuity. And for a weapon of war, peace was its worst nightmare. It wouldn't be needed anymore and thus be tossed away like any weapon that outlived its purpose would be. But with what was happening with ASIC, the return of a Quad Weapon was a blessing in disguise. And in a way, it was, since a weapon like this had significantly higher power than conventional weapons. One on their side would make their chances of fighting ASIC much easier.

'A Quad Weapon, huh…?' Looking down at his Ring, Vent eyed it with wonder and awe, as well as a bit of curiosity. This weapon had such a history to it, and he wasn't aware of anything. It made him realise just how little he knew about both his family heirloom and… his family, now that he thought about it, his mother to be more precise. After all, his father was disgraced by his family for marrying an outsider, but was there more to it than that? Was there something he was missing?

Oddly enough, it seemed that the Mascot of Planeptune seemed to know who he was for some reason, like it had recognised him from somewhere. Vent had gotten the same feeling from Histoire sometimes, but thanks to them not being around each other much he never got the chance to query about it with her. Not that he cared or anything, since his primary goal right now was the CPUs liberation. But it would be nice to know the answers to these questions.

"Wait, in my memory Vent has only used 3 forms: The Ring, Scythe and Cannon forms. Are you saying there's one more?" IF suddenly asked after thinking about it for a moment. Everyone else realised what she was saying, and how true it was. Throughout his time in Gamindustri, Vent's weapon had only taken the previously mentioned 3 forms, so what was the fourth one?

Histoire nodded in affirmative to her question. "Yes. Since you haven't used it yet, perhaps I can help you. Vent, please activate your weapon." She requested him. The male nodded, transforming his Ring into his Scythe form. Histoire slowly hovered around it, eyeing the weapon with absolute scrutiny for a few moments before her eyes zeroed in on a piece of the shaft that Vent never touched. "Ah, I see. The button for the fourth form is alongside that of the Cannon button, Vent. Please try it out." She requested again.

Like before, Vent nodded, curiosity overtaking him at what this new form might be. The Scythe's shaft filled with red lines once again, and a second later began its transformation. The Scythe blades shifted places, the plates moving down to the bottom of the Shaft which flattened and stretched its witch down to the grip, while metallic technological structures seemed to slide out of hidden compartments into their proper places. Mechanical whirring sounds could be heard as the group stared in awe, with Nepgear literally having starry eyes at the sight.

In seconds, everyone gaped at what he was holding: a two handed Chainsword that Vent was obviously able to hold in 2 hands. The blade itself was several inches wider than the 4 hand long hilt that had a long rectangular guard, with a lever at a place where it could be easily accessible to the wielder's hand. The blade was as long as a human arm, coloured black with a red backedge. The plates that once made up the Scythe blades now lined themselves along the blade's edge along a chain, ready to be revved to max capacity should the lever be pulled.

Several collective whistles echoed throughout the room, and Vent gave the Chainsword a few test swings. He swung sideways, downwards and then did a twirling sideways slash, a grin slowly creeping onto his face. "Aw yeah, I'm so gonna love this thing." He muttered under his breath before using his sole hand to pull the level of his new toy. The revving sound that came from the shaking blade was like music to his ears. A low vibration was constantly churning through his arm, and it gave him an immense feeling of pleasure as he looked down at the revved Chainsword blade. The blade and its sound were almost orgasmic.

"Okaaaay, as much as I think we'd all like to stay and listen to that sound..." IF began with sarcasm, ignoring the downright childish pout that Vent sent her way. Seriously, that pout did NOT fit someone like him, even when he was acting like a toddler on a Christmas day. "We need to get moving, ASIC probably have already started looking for Lastation's Mascot."

Her words snapped Vent back to his senses as he returned his weapon to Ring form. 'Wait, shouldn't I give this weapon a name? Good weapons have names usually to distinguish them from ordinary ones. Now then, what should I call you…' he wondered, looking down at his Ring. An idea came to him in a flash: "Looks like your new name is… Vier." He mused, getting their attention.

"Vier?" Compa asked with a slight tinge of fear in her tone. The way he had smile just then made her feel a slight sense of pity for those stupid enough to get in Vent's way again.

The male nodded, "yep, it means 'four' in German, one of the languages in my world. Anyways, let's go already, I really wanna test this baby out against these monsters."

Just before they could though, Histoire remembered something, something important she wanted to discuss. "Oh, before you go, Vent, could you follow me please?" The Oracle called out, getting Vent's attention. "There's something I must speak to you about."

"Can't it wait, we have to catch up to ASIC?"

IF was the one to ask her that, and her words were laced with impatience along with some irritation. Histoire gave her an apologetic smile,, nonetheless as she gestured to the male. "I apologise, IF, however this is a matter of importance. It pertains to a question Vent had asked me about one time." she explained, causing Vent to go wide eyed.

'Wait, does she mean what I think she does?' he wondered, before he decided to follow her when she floated away, leaving the trio of girls alone to wonder what it was that Histoire was talking about.

* * *

"Alright, please sit, Vent."

The two were now inside what looked like a Nurse's office. It was a simple square shaped room, with a simple white floor, walls, and ceiling. The bed was finely made, with white bedsheets and pillows. Practically everything was white, with a smell pertaining to the chemicals hospital cleaners used to clean these types of rooms. Judging from the smell, Vent guess that the room was recently cleaned as he sat on the bed. He heard it creak slightly when he placed his backside on it, putting one foot on his thigh as he regarded the small Oracle. "Is this about what I asked you on...?"

Histoire nodded her head in response. "Yes. You asked me to look into what makes you able to eat human foods, when this 'Kaneki Ken' you mentioned cannot even though like you, he is a Hybrid of human and Ghoul." she confirmed for him. The Oracle then pulled out from her Inventory, a large pad. Her small body shook constantly as she tried to accommodate its size, but she managed in a few moments. "Well, I took a look into those tests we did on your body, and I believe I have found a possible solution to your problem."

Now this got Vent interested. Despite not looking at it, he had been concerned on why he was able to eat human foods while other Hybrids didn't have this kind of ability. The only ones who did have this were the Quinxes, and even then the Quinx squad couldn't use a Kagune's full power like a Ghoul could. In the manga, not being able to eat normally was a major part of the tragedy that was Kaneki Ken's life, so the fact that he could do so unlike his idol was not something that sat well with him. It had left a bad taste in his mouth, so he had asked Histoire to look into it shortly before they had went to go get the Mascot Disk.

He had gone through a series of tests, such as X rays, Blood tests, had pieces of his bone marrow removed for research, and even had a few scientists look into his Kagune as it was released to jot down the results. Finally, it seemed that a possible lead had come up, something he absolutely loved.

Looking at the pad, Histoire placed it on the ground before them, tapping on some of the buttons on its screen. The pad began to glow from its screen, until a projection suddenly appeared above it. The projection was the basic outline of Vent's body, created by a series of polygons arranged to look like his form. "Alright, as you know, your body has the ability to eat human foods, like a normal human, when other Ghouls cannot. Originally, I had assumed that this was caused for plot." Histoire began, though she confused the male when she said 'plot'. "However, I have since noticed something interesting."

The projection then shimmered, and when it regained focus, organs could be seen within it. These organs, they were an exact replica of his body, and soon Vent noticed the same thing Histoire had. "Hey, Histoire, look at my abdomen!" he exclaimed, pointing to the projections said body area. The projection zoomed in thereupon Histoire's imputed order, and when it was enlarged enough, they stood before a projection of Vent's abdomen structure.

Everything was there, the liver, kidney, stomach, the works. Thing was, there were other things there as well... like his Kakuhou, for example. The Kakuhou, originally a sack like organ as said by the TG Wiki, was... shaped much more weirdly than the Wiki said. "That Kakuhou... It seems to be attached, somehow, to the pathways between my stomach and Liver. What the hell?" the male wondered.

"Yes, this is the case, and it is also why I think you can eat human foods. I believe that by fundamentals, your Kakuhous are unlike that of a normal Ghouls. They may function the same, but their behaviour is altered in some way. That's the closest I can get to a proper solution." Histoire replied, frowning in thought as she looked at the projection. Like Vent, she too didn't understand this situation. While she didn't think it was bad that he could still live a normal life, it still presented a mystery that not even she could solve without help. "Can you think of anything that could be useful to us, young Vent? Anything at all that may be different compared to the rest of your kind?"

The male hummed in thought, pondering for a moment as he stared at the projection. To be more specific, the Kakuhou attached to the pathways between his Liver and stomach. He watched them intently, and for a while, Histoire feared he hadn't heard her. She made to ask him again, but then Vent's eyes widened as a figurative lightbulb turned on in his mind. "Hey, I do have something!"

"OH?! Whew, that almost made my heart jump... anyways, please explain."

Vent gave her an apologetic smile at first, before it dropped into a thoughtful frown as he gazed to the ground. His eyes shone with pondering thought as he spoke. "Kaneki got his hybrid powers when his body had Ghoul Organs transplanted into them. According to official reports, he was stabbed through the abdomen when a Ghoul attacked him, clean through. That must mean that he had lost the entirety of his stomach and other surrounding organs upon receiving that injury. Ghouls must not have stomachs that digest human foods, just their Kakuhou, which explains why they can't eat it without throwing it back up. They literally don't have anywhere for it to go. Thus, when he had the organs transplanted into him, he had a Ghoul stomach and Kakuhou instead of a normal human stomach."

The male remembered what he knew of Ghouls, of how they possessed enzymes that made food 'taste bad'. That didn't mean these enzymes forced them to regurgitate. That was more of a reflex action, so that meant they must not have had proper stomachs, only large Kakuhou sacs. It says that Ghouls looked identical to humans save for mentality, diet and, the most important one here 'inner biology'. That was never really elaborated much there, so it stood to question that Ghouls didn't have the same 'stomachs' that humans did.

"I see... in that case, then that might shed some light on your situation." Histoire mused thoughtfully. "You didn't lose your stomach or any important digestive organs, yet you have a Kakuhou in your system, maybe more since you have more than one Kagune type. This Kakuhou must have been altered somehow so that it could convert what you eat into RC Cells to power the Kagune."

'True, that makes it sound like the Quinx's Kakuhous and how it was coated in Quinque steel. But, I can use its full power and live normally, so how...' he thought, before looking up at the Oracle. "I have a hunch, but could you make it so only the Kakuhou and surrounding organs are shown?" he requested of her.

Histoire nodded as she made a few inputs on the pad. The outer layer of Polygons all but vanished from existence, leaving the organs behind. Vent's eyes narrowed as he leaned forwards, looking at the Kakuhou intently. He noticed that it sprouted its own pathways that ran through the rest of the body, spiralling like thin weeds around his blood pathways, as well as connected to his organs. His eyes widened when he saw this. "Huh... Now that I think about it, when I eat things like bread and fruit, I don't get as much of a taste from them as I would when eating cooked meat foods." he mused. "Maybe the Kakuhou takes the meatier foods and drains them to make RC cells from them. Everything else remains untouched."

Also, Vent noticed something else, something about the Kakuhou. "Huh, Histoire can you focus the projection only on the Kakuhou?" he questioned, and she complied. Soon, he was only looking at the Kakuhou itself along with its weed-like pathways. When he looked at it, Vent noticed this thin red layer over it, a layer that looked more like a spongy membrane or something. "That's...!"

"Oh? Scientists noticed this as well." Histoire noted as she too observed the layer. "They say that layer acts as a limiter for specific Enzymes, keeping some within the Kakuhou while others were allowed to run freely. Its almost like a security system, letting some cells in and out, but not others. The ones that would normally make eating human food impossible remain inside the Kakuhou to deal with the cells inside the cooked meaty foods, while the rest are allowed outside into the rest of the body." she mused, remembering the report the Scientists gave her.

Taking a moment, Vent pondered this information. He read on how some Ghouls can be considered 'irregulars' based on their Kagune types and specifications. So, could it also be possible that their very biology could be changed? Could be different from the norm? He remembered how Ayato Kirishima was an Ukaku, yet he suffered none of the drawbacks thanks to his training.

In the end, Vent guessed that his powers were like a mix, a mix between Ghoul and Quinx. The sheer power that the Ghouls possess, along with the control Quinx's had in place to keep them living normal lives.

Standing up from the bed, the teenage Hybrid gave a thankful smile to the Oracle, who shut the projection down. "Thank you once again for helping me with this, Histoire. I may not know how I became a Hybrid, but this has shed some light on the situation." he told her, bowing his head to her.

"Please, think nothing of it, young man." Histoire replied, smiling like an affectionate mother as she floated over to him, dispersing the pad back into her Inventory. Once again, she found herself deeply appreciating the fact that she had an Inventory to store large items, otherwise her arms would be aching constantly from the strain she put them under. "Now, I do believe that you need to return to the others. I hope IF will not be too mad at me for keeping you."

Vent could only chuckle at the thought, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, better not keep her waiting. Well, see you later, Histoire."

* * *

After bidding farewell to Histoire who went off to get some work done, the party began to head towards the exit of the Basilicom to the outside. That is, until a text arrived on Compa's phone. "Huh? What's this?" she wondered, taking her Phone out and looking up the message. Almost instantly after her eyes read the message they widened with unrestrained glee as she turned to the others, "Everyone, please listen up." She called to them making the group pause their strides to turn to her, curiosity on what she had gotten so excited about. "I'm now a fully licenced Nurse Practitioner!"

Everyone gasped at the news, even Vent was surprised. He knew that the Nurse-In-Train-no, Nurse now, had taken the medical graduation exam earlier on, but he didn't expect her to pass so soon. Not to discredit her skills or anything but he figured with ASIC breathing down people's necks the Schools would have had a harder and longer time deciding who to pass and who to fail. Looked like he was wrong on that one, surprisingly enough.

Nevertheless, he was overjoyed just like everyone else as they all walked up to the newly recognised Nurse and began congratulating her in their own ways. Nepgear gave a wave of her arms before hugging the nurse, who eagerly recuperated with a girly squeal, the two jumping up and down like a pair of crazed high schoolers being accepted to a ball. IF punched Compa on the arm in a non-lethal manner while smirking and giving her some congratulations, and Vent put a hand on her shoulder and smiled happily for her, telling her of how great an accomplishment it was.

"Golly, congratulations!" Nepgear chirped with joy. It was always nice to hear your friends were doing well, especially in times like these. "You were just an intern when we first met, right?" she questioned, trying to think back to the time when she first met Compa when she had been introduced by her over-excitable older sister.

Compa giggled at Nepgear's response, nodding her head so fast that she looked like she would lose her head in a few seconds, "tee-hee! While you were away, I was studying my bum off." She explained.

The male of the group nodded his head in agreement, crossing his arms under his chest with an amused smirk on his face, "yeah, I can support her on that one. One time when we came back from a Quest Compa took me to her room to look over an injury that took the rest of the day to heal over. I saw stacks upon stacks of revision notes on her Desk, so many that I thought her entire Desk was being swarmed by paper monsters." The male then shivered slightly, remembering how many pieces of paper Compa had on that desk. It was enough to give people who did paperwork living nightmares for eternity.

Nepgear chuckled weakly at that, she could imagine just what Vent was saying quite clearly, having known Compa's drive much longer than he did. "I see… 3 years is a long time." She remarked sadly. How much of her friends' lives had she missed out on? She was almost scared of the answer. Then, she realised something that the others did too, save for Compa. "But then, won't that mean that you'll need to work in a hospital?"

"Oh don't sweat the small stuff." Compa said dismissively with a wave. "Let's just say they let me put in all my vacation hours, okay?" she ended cheerily while Vent raised an eyebrow in concern at that, 'that doesn't sound like a good thing…'

It seemed that Nepgear was on the same wavelength as him as well, considering her response. "If you take too long of a vacation, won't they fire you…?"

Seemed that Compa wasn't afraid of being fired at all judging by her nonchalance about the issue. "If that happens I'll work in a free clinic or something!" she replied, before continuing, "More importantly, if I'm gone who else will take care of you and iffy when you get covered in bruises? Or when Ven-Ven needs longer times to heal from his owwies?"

That made them think, to be honest. Compa was their medic, where else would they find one if she was gone? Nepgear was touched though, not really thinking about that ominous stuff. "Compa… you're so nice to us! Thank you for everything!" she thanked her with a bow. Vent had to agree with her, minus the bowing bit since he didn't bow to anyone. It was rare that they get someone like Compa on their team, someone who as willing to help them with nothing in return.

"No problem!" Compa replied happily as she clasped her hands together, "you can get knocked silly all you want, because I'm here to bandage you up!"

At that statement, a wave of awkward tension swept over the group, its speaker hopelessly oblivious to it. Nepgear laughed weakly at her friend, "Hahaha… now it sounds like you enjoy it when we're injured…" she muttered with Vent and IF agreeing. They decided to just ignore it for now and focus on their mission, leaving soon after.

* * *

The party travelled over to Lastation via train, one that went underground as to avoid the territory of the dangerous monsters above on the surface. The train ride took about 3 hours, and had to stop at several checkpoints to run scans for any signs of unwanted passengers. Vent and the others didn't mind though, they could understand that the security measures were needed since ASIC fanatics tended to raid trains for supplies and sometimes recruit followers.

They finally arrived at the Land of Black Regality, Lastation, and the first thing Vent compared it to was the industrial revolution. It was completely unlike Planeptune in that its skies were cloudy, and there were lots of factories about. The Buildings were tall and looked well maintained, as if the cleaners found even the slightest mark on the buildings to be an affront to their job. They were coloured black with various Golden outlines as well as specs of silvery white here and there, giving them posh looks. Vent could see why it would be called the land of Black Regality now, especially when he saw how different the people here were.

Unlike Planeptune's citizens who often wore informal clothing when walking the streets, Vent saw here that the people wore more formal getups like business suits, dress shirts, pants, shoes etc. The only signs of informality would be the parents who were taking their kids somewhere to play, but even then they were on their phones while their children had handheld Consoles. The entire atmosphere was a complete contrast to that of Planeptune.

The male hadn't been to the other Nations before, remaining in Planeptune had been his routine since he had to help IF and Compa with their efforts to hinder ASIC's influence. This would count as his first visit to another Nation, and already he could see the resemblance it had to his world's industrial era. Although his Ghoul eyesight could pick out various mechanisms on the factories that seemed to be filtering out the harmful gases to reduce pollution in the Nation's skies, which separated it from his world's industrial era.

Meanwhile, a certain pinkette had a very different reaction to the sight of this Nation.

"Wow…! Lastation is chock full of nifty gadgets and Machines…!" an elated Nepgear exclaimed as she jogged over to the viewing window of what looked to be a hardware store. She placed her face on the window and eyed everything inside.

'Huh… looks like someone's a machine nut…' Vent thought to himself, it was always interesting learning about the quirks of the girls he travelled with; it made things… interesting to watch. However, sometimes he couldn't help but get caught up in their antics himself, much to his chagrin.

Compa walked over to her while tapping her on the shoulder, getting the awestruck pinkette's attention once more, "is this your first time here, Ge-Ge?" she asked her. Now that she thought about it, Compa didn't know if her sister ever let Nepgear out into the other nations, she usually stayed within Planeptune's boundaries being focused more on tinkering than anything else.

Looking over to her friend, Nepgear nodded in confirmation, "Yes, but I've heard stories from Neptune about it. She would bring me baggies of Gears sometimes…" she explained. And then the three became witness to the girls' eyes literally filling up with tiny stars of admiration, several floating about her head. "Oooh, this place looks like so much fun for tinkering…! It'd be great if we could look around a bit…"

'Whoa, what the heck?!' Vent shouted in his mind while doing a double take. He was taken aback by how much Nepgear seemed to like machines… as well as the display made before him. He hadn't seen this before from her, it looked like she had shown a new side to her she hadn't shown before. He wasn't so sure she should be indulging in this right now however, they DIDN'T come here to sightsee, even though it was the first time he had come here too.

Thankfully, IF intervened before things got out of hand. "Cool your jets." She chided the girl, whose expression returned to normal. By normal, her yes returned to what they were before and the stars vanished. "We have more important things to deal with right now." IF said while glancing towards a direction that led deeper into the city.

"Y-Yeah, your right." Nepgear stuttered as she finished snapping out of her excitement, although a small presence was still in her eyes, "we have to do our best otherwise Lastation would be in danger… Must. Not. Window Shop." She muttered that to herself over and over, as if it were the only thing stopping her from shoplifting the entirety of the hardware market.

'wow, I don't know if Nepgear will be able to hold herself back at this rate… we better get moving soon…' Vent thought to himself, 'although, this desire to tinker might prove useful in the future… hmmm, Ideas, Ideas…' plans and thoughts circled his mind, revolving around this new bit of information.

Before he could think further on that topic, Compa turned to her brunette friend and decided to change the subject. Good thing too, otherwise those two would be lost in thought for hours. "Iffy, do you know of any leads?" she asked, breaking the two from their musings.

They all looked to IF expectantly, who pointed to a tall building that looked similar to the Guild Building back in Planeptune. "Well, we should head to the Guild first. We can gather intel and take Quests to recover the Shares here, too." She explained to them her idea. It was a good one, gathering information was basically the bread and butter of any operation on foreign soil. One had to get the lay of the land, sort to speak, if they wanted to avoid any hiccups.

'Still though… why do I get the feeling that IF is avoiding the subject of the Basilicom…?' Vent wondered. It didn't make sense really. When she spoke, Vent had noticed that her eyebrow was twitching oddly and she seemed rather… hesitant to him. It wasn't enough for the girls to notice, but Vent had been in the vigilante business for enough time to tell when someone was deliberately avoiding a certain topic.

Shaking his head to clear those thoughts from his mind, Vent looked to the others and spoke his opinion, "well that does sound solid. We can check with the locals to see what ASIC has been up to here. This is a different nation after all, they could have a stronger grip here than in Planeptune."

The others nodded in agreement with the male's reasoning, before they headed off to the Lastation Guild. Just after they left though, a feminine figure walked to the entrance to the station, a figure who had come here for a specific reason. "Hmmm… shoot looks like I missed her. I heard from HER that one of THEM was coming today from Planeptune… and I really wanted to meet her, too… not that I care or anything, I just wanted to check the competition, that's all!" the figure ranted to herself, huffing while crossing her arms. She then turned on her feet before taking off somewhere else.

* * *

Things seemed to be worse here than in Planeptune, Vent noticed, as did the others.

While walking to the Guild (and stopping Nepgear a few times from trying to raid a hardware store… or two…), they had seen more stands that advertised ASIC products as well as members themselves preaching their beliefs to gather followers. This wasn't the case back in Nepgear's Nation, since Histoire always made sure to crack down on such practices to the point where they had to resort to black market dealings to try and get through Planeptune's defences.

When they finally arrived at the Lastation Guild, they saw a lot less Adventurers and Agents in the Guild Hall. Several counters didn't have a Clerk on them, with signs that said 'closed for indefinite hiatus'. This didn't look good, not at all especially with the scents Vent was getting, scents that belonged to ASIC. He'd smelled them enough to get the ability to tell them apart from normal folk.

"Not much foot traffic, today…" Compa remarked with a frown, looking around the area and eyeing the lack of activity. The Party walked further in towards the few counters that were available, intent on getting started with their task.

IF nodded in agreement, "This must mean that this place is pretty firmly under ASIC's control…. Hmmm, hope we can get legit Intel." She mused in a worried manner, although the male's instincts told him that there was more to her worry than she was letting on. He didn't call her out on it though, since he would only do so if it threatened the safety of their party.

Then again, their lack of ability to get information would be a big cause for concern…

While they were in their own thoughts, Nepgear got an idea as she looked at the Counter. "Oh, while you guys go ahead and gather information, allow me to go and accept a few quests." She suggested, pointing to the Counter.

The three others glanced at each other, as if sharing a conversation with their eyes, before nodding in union. "Alright," IF said, before gesturing to Vent suddenly, "Vent you go with her, make sure she doesn't do anything too reckless." She told him, "we don't want her getting herself killed like that one time when we tried taking on an Exiled Force." She shivered, remembering that particular Quest, as did the others. Nodding at that, the two separated from Compa and IF who went to see if they could find any info on the whereabouts of the Mascot.

The two made their way to the counter, the clerk being a woman wearing a formal black uniform with golden highlights. It was Nepgear who spoke first since this was her idea in the first place. "Excuse me? I'd like to see what quests are available." She requested. The Clerk nodded without much thought and made to bring up the quests that were available, when…

"Excuse me, I'd like to see what Quests are available." Another girl walked up to the Counter, having not noticed them until now. Both the girl and Nepgear looked at each other strangely, their eyes filled with confusion and surprise at the surprise meeting while Vent analysed the girl with scrutiny.

"Huh/Hmm?"

She seemed to be a light skinned girl with long jet black hair, some areas looking like they were almost dark blue, with most of it worn down reaching her chest, with some of it worn in pigtails held with light blue and black ribbons. Her eyes were a crimson red, reminding both of them of Vent's Kakugan without the black sclera and the red veins, but were darker in comparison.

The girl seemed to have black, milky blue, and white/silver as her colours of choice when they noticed her outfit. She was wearing a black dress with milky blue lining, an odd belt like piece with a bow behind it and a big circle with white lining connecting the dress to her collar. She wore long fingerless black gloves with milky blue colouring at the top and similar short boots. On the left side there was a small device that they both assumed to most likely be a cell phone of some kind.

'… Why does she have such an important item for daily use exposed like that? Does she have a glass container around it? Doesn't seem so…' Vent wondered with a frown, this girl either had high confidence that she wouldn't be robbed of her phone or she was just plain stupid. He would reserve his judgement till later though, it would be rude to just judge a book by its cover, as cliché as it sounded. It was still an important life lesson though, just like how if one was too arrogant then they would fall on the battlefield one day.

Meanwhile, Nepgear was thinking something about the girl as well, 'She looks to be about my age… should such a young human girl really take on such dangerous work?' she wondered while assessing the girl before her. She didn't look like she had any weapon, either, but perhaps she just stored it in her Inventory like the usual Gamindustri citizen would.

While the two were observing her, the girl seemed to be hiding the fact that she was doing the same to them. 'Huh…? Why's a kid my age going about doing Guild work? Is she stupid or something? This kind of work's too much for a normal human…' she thought to herself when looking Nepgear up and down. 'she would be mincemeat for the lowest monsters out there.'

Her gaze shifted over to the male beside her, and immediately the girl felt a chill go up her spine. 'This guy though… something feels off about him. Usually guys would be seen as weak or useless since this is a franchise about girls fighting to save the world… big sister always regarded men with a low opinion, but… this one gives the vibe of someone whose seen lots of fighting…' she thought before glancing at his hand, noticing the ring on his index finger. The sight of it gave her the chills even more so, she didn't know what the heck it was, but something about that Ring told her that it was very dangerous and would likely be too much for her to handle. 'Pft, as if. That human boy won't likely be able to do much. Heh, they seem almost like they were made for each other…'

Eventually, the three went and started a conversation with the black haired girl going first, "you're here to do quests, too?" she asked with a warm smile. Always good to make a first impression, her sister always said. It was the best thing one could do when in a first meeting. 'I'll lay the ground work first; see how they react…'

"H-Huh? Me? Y-yes, that's right." Nepgear stuttered, she had been caught off guard by the sudden question as she had been too busy with her own thoughts about the girl before them. 'Okie dokie Nepgear, make sure you don't make a fool of yourself, you're in a new Nation after all. Just think of it as a prequel to talking to those salesmen at the hardware stores.'

The black haired girl regarded the pinkette with a slight arrogant and disbelieving gaze, which made Vent's eyes narrow as he resisted the urge to show his Kakugan. 'she doesn't believe in Nepgear's ability… well her response would likely be considered weak since the language of a Guild Agent is more composed and stern, like a soldier who's seen a lot of battle…' he thought to himself to help curb stomp his sudden burst of rage.

Unaware of the male's musings and his efforts, the black haired girl spoke again, "Huh. Are you sure about this? I mean, your still just a kid." She commented with an evaluating eyebrow raise. 'The way she responded clearly indicates she's either a rookie in way over their head or someone whose socially awkward… now let's see how that guy responds.' She thought while glancing at him, "and you're a guy, and guys aren't usually into this kind of work."

'Finally, time to step in.' Vent thought to himself while answering the girl's silent question of why he was here with Nepgear, "what I chose to do as a profession shouldn't be any of your concern, Mrs." He spoke with calmness and a calculative gleam in his eye as he regarded her just like how she did with Nepgear. "Also you seem to be engaging in a bit of hypocrisy yourself, calling my comrade ere a child when you are but one yourself." He finished his sentence with a sense of satisfaction, 'yep, that'll show her how I mean business…' he thought with a mental smirk.

Nepgear frowned as she caught the hidden meanings both of the other participants in this conversation seemed to be sporting. "H-He's right you know, you're just a kid too…!" she defended herself while trying not to raise her voice. She didn't want to make the person before them hate her or something, that may prove bad in their plans of getting Lastation's shares. If this girl didn't like her she would likely go to ASIC.

Momentarily taken aback by their individual responses, the black haired girl soon regained her composure, 'looks like these two have some bite to them. I better back off on that while I still can…' she thought while giving a cocky smirk and raising her head, "I'm an exceptional exception. You have no idea how tough I am." Her dominating demeanour, which had formed from her first sentence, began to drop into a more sombre one as she looked to the side, her eyes becoming downcast, "but I need to get stronger, so…"

"So you can…?"

"Uh, why are you two looking for a quest here, anyways?"

'Hmmm, I sense that she has some emotional baggage, which is the main cause of her arrogance earlier…' Vent noted in his mind. When he looked at her again, his eyes momentarily widened when her scent whiffed into his nostrils. 'This smell… its coming from the girl, but… it is starkly similar to Nepgear. It reminds me of something divine like a Goddess, so could this girl be… Now don't make too many assumptions Vent. Wait until you see her fight.' The male teen chided himself.

Nepgear answered the girl's question in a passionate manner, which seemed to row as she spoke, "I want to regain Shares from ASIC, and to help the CPUs…" the spoke it in a manner that depicted how strongly she felt about her goal. It was natural, after all one of them was her sister.

Hearing this, the blackette's demeanour also changed… but not for the better. Her eyes narrowed into a sharp stare, as if it could pierce someone's very soul just by being on the girl's face somehow. "Wow, aren't you serious?" she commented with sarcasm in her tone. "That speech makes you seem like a goody-two-shoes honour student…"

… Okay, it was getting WAY harder for Vent to keep his cool. 'And that comment makes you sound like someone who doesn't have any friends.' Vent thought with anger, clenching his fists to hold himself back. Fortunately, Nepgear didn't act like her usual timid self and defended herself by responding hotly, "Wh-what the goodness is wrong about being serious for a serious problem?" she asked her with mild annoyance and disbelief that someone would demean her ideals like that.

Momentarily, the blackette appeared taken aback again, and the trio had a silent Mexican staredown. There was a thick tension blanketing the area around them, so thick one could cut it with a blade. It was like when one walked into a bar, a bar filled with nasty-looking men wearing war paint. their eyes all on you as you go to the Bar's counter, to order a drink. One false move and they would be on you like bloodhounds.

This lasted for a few seconds, and looked like it would result in a brawl… "Hahahaha!" the girl bent over while laughing, holding her stomach with her arms. This caught both Nepgear and Vent off guard, they didn't expect her reaction to be like… that. In their minds, they were picturing her reaction to be a bit more… physical, and violent too, can't forget about the violence. "Sorry, sorry. I haven't talked to anyone my age in a while." The girl apologised as she attempted to regain her composure. Once she had calmed down, the girl removed her hands from her stomach and let them fall to her side once more.

'Huh… interesting, that sounds almost like Nepgear.' Vent thought to himself while remembering how Nepgear was raised solely in Planeptune with little exposure to the other nations. This made his hunch slightly more solid than before, he just needed some more evidence…

While he was thinking this, Planeptune's CPU Candidate calmed down as well, adopting an understanding expression as she placed a hand on her chest, sighing in relief that she hadn't made an enemy. 'Oh good, she doesn't hate me...' she thought to herself. Her eyes then blinked as a revelation came to her, "Come to think of it, this is the first time for… No, I've never met a girl my age before. Everyone's older than me."

The blackette blinked at the response Nepgear said, fining it to be a little strange. Though Vent noticed a spark of kinship flash through her eyes before it vanished. "Uh huh… well, my name is Uni. What's yours?"

'Uni… that's Uni, huh?' Vent thought as he analysed the girl before them once more. He idly glanced at the clerk whom had resumed her work with mild irritation, knowing that she had been left out of the conversation. His gaze then returned to the one that had almost started a fight with them, a fight that would have been disastrous for a couple reasons. One of them was that she had likely never seen how he fought before, nor his Ghoul side when it was unleashed on her ass. In addition, a fight between them would have ruined the Basilicom for an indefinite amount of time which would have negatively impacted their plans to find Lastation's Mascot, as well as their presence in the eyes of the people.

As usual, Vent neglected to inform anyone of what he was thinking, thus the conversation between the two girls went unhindered. Nepgear smiled while closing her eyes, "I'm Nepgear. I hope we can be friends, Uni." She said, happy to have made a new friend, and in a foreign nation no less. The two shook hands in a gesture of greetings. Images of them doing stuff together floated around her mind, like shopping, games, fighting monsters etc…

Glancing to the male of the trio, Uni repeated her question to him, "and what about you mister? You got a name too or are you just an NPC?" she asked him curiously, tilting her head in a manner that was almost like Compa's. In hr mind, she added, 'if this guy's actually relevant he'll have a name right? He didn't partake much in the conversation, just kept to himself and let Nepgear do the talking. Either he's a weak guy who lets girls do all the work, or unlike the rest he's actually part of the main cast.'

Vent noticed her gaze and quickly deduced that she was belittling him in her mind, much to his anger. However, the male quashed it in favour of responding to her question, "The name's Vent, Mrs Uni." He replied evenly, and then his eyes narrowed as he continued with a slight edge to his tone, "and believe you me, I'm NOT an NPC, I actually have a role to play." While he could understand why she was sceptical of him, since males in Gamindustri were either evil or useless, it still didn't sit well with him that they added someone like him to that list. Seriously, did he really look that weak?!

His tone caught her by surprise, and she grimaced, realising that she had insulted him just now, "r-right, sorry about that. Vent Huh? An… intriguing name." Uni commented, putting a finger on her chin thoughtfully, "well, it's not the weirdest name I've heard out there. Anyways, it's nice to meet you, Vent." She raised and extended a hand for a handshake, to which Vent gave a nod and shook it back, better play it safe tad show some respect since she was trying to do so on her end.

In her mind, Uni regarded these two thoughtfully. It seemed that they did have some experience in combat judging from their posture, more on Vent's side than Nepgear but since she was with him in taking quests then she had to know how to fight. She still didn't think that Vent was anything much but from what she did see he seemed to be the genuine article. There was only one way to be sure of that, and she guessed Nepgear would be helpful too, plus she had to get these quests done for Lastation so it was three for one.

"Anyways, now that we have become acquainted now, do you guys fancy teaming up to complete a quest together?" Uni offered them, a sense of eagerness on her face. Despite her thoughts, Uni hadn't had anyone to quest with before, either because they were too weak or 'certain people' were overprotective of her. So having the chance to do so now sounded… fun.

Her question made Nepgear blink several times like an owl, before she asked with uncertainty, "You mean… You, Vent and me?" she had started poking her index fingers, unsure if she had heard it right. Nobody had asked her to join them on a Quest before, as like she said at the beginning, she had never met anyone her own age before. Thus, she had never been invited into a party, this time was a special exception to that rule thanks to the circumstances of the world right now.

"Yea." Uni responded with a nod, before looking down as she raised her right hand to her face. Memories played through her mind as she continued, "I always do this stuff done alone, so I think it would be a good change of pace to try working with someone else." She explained, while internally she added 'Maybe then I may get even stronger than I do when I fight alone. Maybe then I'll be good enough… to rescue HER…'

It didn't take long for a response to be given as Nepgear's smile was practically beaming with joy, this being her first experience being invited to a quest. "Okay, yeah! That sounds like fun. Let's go together!" she cheered while raising her arms into the air. Afterwards the two girls went to the quest counter together in order to get the quests they would need.

Meanwhile, Vent eyed Uni with caution and suspicion. He didn't think she was a bad person per say, perhaps a tad arrogant and maybe a bit of someone who usually hid her feelings away out of embarrassment, but she also had several similarities to Nepgear. Both carried themselves like socially awkward teenage girls growing up sheltered from the world by someone who had been watching over them. Both were of the same age, and both liked going on quests to fight monsters, although Nepgear did it more because of it being a necessity to help save her sister and the other CPUs.

What made him cautious was the fact that with these similarities to Nepgear, it made his theory about her even more solid in his mind. And if she was who he thought she was, then the outcome of this quest… may not be as favourable as they would have hoped. 'I've seen a few people back in my world who hide their feelings with anger and violence. They had the name Tsundere for some reason, but if Uni is who I think she is and she discovers Nepgear's true identity… things will not turn out well. I'll have to make preparations before that happens so I can repair at least some of the damage. Oh, and I should also give IF and Compa a text so that they know where to meet us for the Quests.'

Just after he thought that the two girls came back to where he was standing, having completed their tasks of getting the quests available. They both held identical smiles showing how excited they were for the jobs ahead of them. "We got the quests!" Nepgear said as Uni nodded.

"Looked like we lucked out, they're in the Rebeat Resort. Luckily for you guys," Vent witnessed the superior attitude displayed commonly by those who were called Tsunderes as she held her hands on her hips while puffing her chest out with a cocky smirk, "I know the way. Am I awesome, or what?"

Vent didn't respond while Nepgear sheepishly adhered to Uni's question, the male mentioned being focused on the task of informing IF and Compa where they would be going. "We should get going as soon as possible then. These quests aren't going to do themselves." He told them while pocketing his phone after receiving a message from the girls. They said that they would meet them there since IF had gotten a map of the Nation and its dungeons. They'd be fine, he assured himself, they knew what they were doing and had been doing it more than he ever had.


	13. Chapter 13 - Fighting with Uni PT 1

**Alright, in the last chapter, I explained a bit about Vent's Ghoul side, why he was the way he was when human food was involved. One of my reviewers said that not eating human foods was a major part of TG's plot, and I agree. As a fan myself, I had looked into this and I noticed something. Kaneki got stabbed in the abdomen, straight through by Rize's Kagune. That must have obliterated his organs like the stomach and stuff, so when he had the transplant, those organs were replaced by Ghoul ones. Add in their biology, and then you have a One Eyed who can't eat human food. Vent however, hasn't lost any of these organs, so he can still live like a human, and with how I tried to explain it, can still use a Ghoul Kagune to its fullest potential. Hope this satisfies you TG fans out there.**

 **There's much more to this mystery, but iif I said everything it wouldn't make the plot that engaging.**

 **Now then, on with the story!**

 **Chapter 13 - fighting with Uni PT 1**

The trio journeyed to the Rebeat Resort, Nepgear quickly taking a liking to the new girl and Uni seemingly responding in kind. The two were talking about random things just like regular normal girls while Vent hung back and watched. Despite his suspicions, he was still glad that Nepgear was having a good time. Things like this, aspects of a normal life that Nepgear hadn't experienced before, would help her grow into a better person than she ever was before. And some part of him thought the same for Uni.

Still though, he never forgot his suspicions, and to him, this also had the feel of a powder keg waiting to erupt.

While they walked through the streets, Vent's eyes caught sight of a hardware store, which went unnoticed by the Planeptune CPU Candidate, which went to show how into the conversation she and Uni were. An idea struck him the moment that his eyes laid sight upon it, one that may mitigate the potential damage that could happen between the two. Making sure that the girls didn't notice, he made a slight detour, entering the hardware store and purchasing something with the credits he'd rightfully earned himself, before coming back out.

Vent knew that he didn't have an inventory like the girls did, and his usual method with his Kagune wouldn't work, so he had decided to make a thin red interior for his Jacket that would absorb items then spit them out when he wanted them to. It was like how when a predator caught prey but not eat till later, for example Pelicans had large sacs that they stored their food in to eat at their leisure. He'd taken that concept and made an RC Basket for himself.

All the while, nobody had been the wiser.

* * *

They finally made it to the Rebeat resort, and just as Vent had hoped IF and Compa had beaten them to the place, waiting by the entrance for them with the former on her Phones doing whatever, and the latter polishing her Syringe. He swore he saw Uni flinch at the size of the damn thing, which made him chuckle to himself. Reminded of his first time seeing her weapon up close like that.

The two girls heard footsteps and looked up from what they were doing, their eyes landing on the trio as they walked up to them. Compa was the first to comment on the fact that Nepgear had a new accomplice, "Wow, so you made a new cute friend while we were at the Guild?" she asked with a bright smile. Like Nepgear, Compa also looked positively beaming to see her having made a new friend. One could tell this just by looking at the happiness shining through her eyes.

Uni, after glancing IF and Compa over, looked to Nepgear and Vent with a knowing look. It was like she figured out this grand puzzle that was the two's way of questing. "Oh. So you guys weren't doing quests all by yourselves. I mean, I guess that's to be expected. Those arms of yours look pretty slim." She remarked, thinking 'that makes sense, if they had more people then they'd be able to take on dangerous work all right. Maybe they're compensating for each other's shortcomings.'

'While that did seem a little insulting, I can't really fault her for making that observation when I did the same in my head.' Vent thought while narrowing his eyes at her, knowing what Nepgear's reaction would be judging by the offended look on her face. 'It's likely because she wields a one handed weapon that her arms don't look as developed as they would be if they swung a heavier 2 handed weapon like I do. My arms look like they've seen combat thanks to Vier, and my vigilante experiences back in my world, whereas Nepgear's not got that advantage.'

"N-Nuh-uh! I'm not weak!" the mentioned CPU Candidate cried out to defend herself. Though this didn't last long as her gaze fell to the ground when everyone's attention fell on her. "Well… okay, maybe a little, but…" she mumbled under her breath, soon trailing into silent murmurs while poking her index fingers together.

The male sighed at this, arms crossed in front of his chest as he regarded her with an exasperated sigh. Looked like she still had that meek shyness to her, which wasn't good for the Party's morale. "Nepgear, why do you do this to yourself…?" the male mused while shaking his head in his hand. He thought they had gotten past this when they found the first Mascot, but he guessed some lingering fears remained.

IF groaned in annoyance while holding her shaking head in her hand, she was seriously getting annoyed with that crap Nepgear pulled that hit her self-confidence levels. "Enough already, Nepgear. Stop with this self-deprecating nonsense already." She said, making the mentioned girl laugh nervously, realising her error.

Uni chuckled at the interaction, finding it slightly amusing how IF and Vent both seemed to reprimand the pinkette whenever she spouted stuff that damaged her self-confidence. Though she did have to admit that it would hinder their quest if one of their own were not trying as hard as they should due to confidence issues, it'll bring the entire team down.

So with that in mind, she decided to bring the subject back on track. Shaking her head, she spoke, "in any case, if there's five of us, this Quest will be a joke. Let's get it over with quick, alright?"

At hearing her words, Nepgear's confidence skyrocketed when she realised the truth behind them. "Okay, yeah! Let's do this guys." She cheered with a determined serious face, while her arms were tucked in and her fists were under her chin. Compa nodded happily as she brandished her Syringe, IF smirked as she summoned her Qatars while Vent gave a bloodthirsty smile, switching Vier to Sword mode. He'd been waiting to test this baby out ever since it was first discovered in the Planeptune Basilicom. Uni then summoned her weapon from her Inventory: An Assault Rifle, which made the male think to himself, 'huh, so that's her weapon of choice? Makes her a ranged fighter then… good she could cover Compa while she heals us from a distance…'

As the party went inside the Dungeon, they didn't see someone hiding nearby, watching them with silent anger. If they did, they'd readily recognise the grey mouse hood and green hair that could be seen from behind a rock. A certain ASIC Underling had been watching them, and after they went in she stopped leaning out of her cover and cursed to herself under her breath, "Tch, they already made it here. AT this rate, they'll end up getting in my way…"

Reaching into the depths of her hoodie, Underling pulled out a Disk, unlike the normal ones however this had a dark purplish colour with hints of red. A dark smirk formed on her face. "Lord Tatara gave me this so I wouldn't screw up again… Fine. With this I'll finish em off this time, and they won't know what hit em."

The Party raced into the Dungeon, and no sooner after they did, they were attacked by a group of 20 monsters called 'Babyvaders', small pixel-shaped monsters with tiny arms, legs and 2 yellow protrusions on their heads. Nepgear and Vent charged in first with IF right behind them, Compa and Uni providing covering fire. They were quick to witness how Uni could fire through even the tiniest gaps in their lines to hit the targeted enemies, as well as fire in different styles. It was clear to them that she was no slouch when it came to combat.

"Nice Gun you have there, Uni!" Vent yelled as he pulled the Handle of Vier's sword Mode, quickly revving the blade as he charged at a Babyvader and made to slash it. The Chainsword grinded through flesh like a hot knife through butter, spraying the creature's blood and innards, which were the same as its outer body colour, as it cleaved the monster in half. The male paused to look his weapon over, the blood on the blade's edge quickly being wiped off by the Revved chainsaw function it had. "Heh, I'm liking her more and more already…"

Uni nodded in thanks at the compliment, quickly aiming behind him to fire at an attacking Babyvader trying to avenge its brethren, but turned out she didn't need to when he spun into a back swing and sliced it in half in one go. "Thanks! That sword of yours is pretty gnarly too!" she called out as she switched targets to some of the other Babyvaders that broke from the main group to attack her and Compa.

"I'm surprised Uni isn't freaking out at the Chainsword's appearance like we did, IF." Nepgear commented as she blocked a charge from 2 Babyvaders at once, before sliding behind them having slashed twice along the way. It looked like she had passed right by them to the casual observer, slashes appearing where they were hit before they fell to the ground and dispersed into particles.

The Guild Agent narrowed her eyes at her, "You guys were the ones freaking out, I was just mildly cautious. Anyways, that tells me she's not your average teenage girl who likes shopping for clothes and gossiping with friends." She remarked, adding under her breath, "sure as hell won't catch me doing that crap…" while using a DEMON FLAMES Skill to wipe out a group of Babyvaders attacking from behind.

Compa sweat dropped, she could tell what IF had said based off the expressions she had on her face. "Yeah, Iffy isn't the girlish type either, more of a tomboy." She commented with a bright sunny smile… all the while trapping a Babyvader under her foot and stabbing her syringe's needle tip into the top of its head…

#shudder#

Soon enough, all the Babyvaders were reduced to mincemeat. As the last of them vanished into Particles, IF looked towards the others, "there's bound to be more of them, anybody need some healing?" the girl questioned, glancing over their bodies to check for wounds.

"Nope."

"Not me, Iffy, I always keep my body healthy!"

"S-sorry, but um, I don't need any. I used healing skills in the battle."

"Nah, I'm good. Not that I would need healing since those wounds would be minor anyways. Those guys couldn't even touch me."

Vent, Compa, Nepgear and Uni responded in that order, confirming that they indeed didn't need healing. The Babyvaders were nothing compared to the Blazewing Butterfly or Tatara.

Turning to the male, Uni tilted her head with a curious expression on her face, "Hey Vent, I just noticed something but… why do you crack your index finger whenever a battle starts?" Uni asked him, gesturing to his hand. She had noticed him do it as the army had approached them, and had been curious as to the significance of it. Most girls would find it disturbing, but she merely found it curious.

"Huh? Oh…" Vent blinked, momentarily surprised by the question as he looked down at his hand. He then brought it to his face as he examined it, "well, I guess you'd call it a habit I've taken to. It's nothing too big really, sometimes I do it without being aware of it, other times I do it intentionally, so I never bothered with it." He explained. For some reason, a faint flicker of pain assaulted his chest, but it was gone in an instant. 'Huh? What was that?' he wondered, before deciding to drop it.

After hearing his response, Uni hummed to herself, "strange habit… but what the heck, I guess. But wow, you really are strong, aren't you?" she asked while gesturing to Vier, which was still in Sword Mode. "I take it that's your signature weapon?"

The male brought up his Vier and nodded, smiling softly as memories passed through his mind, "well, I wouldn't say she's my signature weapon, but she's definitely a valuable one. Vier's a family heirloom I got from my mother, and she's a Quad weapon which makes her extra dangerous on the battlefield." He explained, switching between Gun, Scythe, and Ring modes before returning Vier to Sword Mode.

Hearing the name of his weapon, Uni's brow shot upwards in shock, "e-eh?! That's one of the rarest weapons you can find! There's like a 3% chance of looting one of those from even the strongest of monster corpses!" she exclaimed, before narrowing her eyes with… was that jealousy he was seeing in those crimson orbs of hers? "Your guy was so lucky…" she mumbled, crossing her arms and pouting.

"We can ogle Vent's weapon later, ladies." IF called out. The party turned to her, only to find that she had gone slightly ahead of them. Turning her head back to look at them, IF's eyes were filled with stern determination with a mild tone of amusement as she spoke her next sentence. "Right now we have a job to do. The Monster we need to slay is at the back of the Dungeon, right? Then let's move it, people!"

"IF?! Please wait up!"

"Iffy, it's not right to abandon your party members like that! That's what Nep-Nep did in the original game!"

As the others chased behind the girl, none of them were aware of the silently trailing Underling behind them, ready to strike like a python.

'Ah, I loved the smell of torn flesh in the morning…' Vent thought morbidly as he cleaved through yet another monster with Vier in Sword mode. Not once in this entire Dungeon had he even used any other weapon Modes or even his Kagune, he'd been sticking to one thing and one thing only, getting a good feel of the weapon in his hands. Sometimes he'd catch Uni glaring with jealousy at his weapon, which made him smirk in amusement.

A part of him wondered if he would even need his Mask at this point, but it was mostly drowned out by the elation he felt slicing monsters to pieces. Vent did wish to put the Mask on, but wondered what the point it would be, what purpose it could serve besides intimidate the hell out of his comrades. Back in the original Tokyo Ghoul manga, Masks were meant to hide away a Ghoul's identity as they did their hunting activities.

Eventually, they were walking down a curving pathway that led to the largest circular platform in the distance. When they entered the platform, they saw the last monster they needed to slay. "That's the monster the quest wants us to slay, right?" Compa asked as IF brought up the Quest details on her phone. She looked them over for a second, then at the pic of the monster, until she glanced at the monster and gave a response.

"Yeah, this looks like it. Man, ever since ASIC showed up these things have been getting creepier and creepier."

Indeed, the monster before them looked like a 12 feet long Starfish, with a thick-looking hide and instead of lying on its backside the creature was standing on the tips of its legs like an animal would. They could see the interior of its legs and its centre. The nametag 'Armoured Starfish' floated above it, and right now the monster seemed to be lazing about.

Vent formed an analogy for this, "looks like this thing's recently ate see how its breathing heavily? That means it just finished digesting some large creature, and from what I can tell, that creature was likely the 'King Crab' that was originally said to be here." He observed while rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"How do you know that, Ven-Ven?" Compa questioned, surprised at how thoughtful his theory had been. She knew that he was more observant than the rest of the male population, she had seen many instances when he had put his deductive skills to use.

IF glanced around and found what it was that brought that theory into Vent's mind, "I'm guessing it's those remains over there." She said, pointing with her left arm at another space on the Platform, where they could see what remained of some sort of orange Crustacean's limb. From the bite marks and how messy the pieces were, it wouldn't be bad to guess that the Armoured Starfish had barfed those out not long after feasting on the previous owner of those limbs.

"Ugh… that's so gross…"

"Well it's a part of nature… Compa, right?" Uni remarked, getting a nod from the girl, "thanks, wasn't sure I got it right. Anyways, it's all part of nature, kill or be killed. In the wild, the strong devour the weak, so this is something to be expected to see." She explained while shrugging her shoulders. She was displaying a maturity that surprised the male, and made him think that perhaps the discovery of Nepgear's true identity wouldn't be so bad after all.

While they were talking, the monster suddenly tensed, several sounds coming from it which put the party on the defensive. "Uh oh, I think its noticed us." Compa remarked fretfully, gripping her Syringe in a manner that looked like she was seeking support from just feeling her weapon's presence.

"Get ready guys, its coming!"

True to IF's words, the Armoured Starfish swiftly began to move, two of its arms stabbing into the ground as another 2 pushed it upwards. It then turned to them, showing the many bristles around the central circular mouth. It gave a growl as it looked at them, even though it didn't have any eyes to look at them with, the sight of its underside sending more than a few chills down their spines.

"That's… not something I want to see every day…" if someone as psychotic as Vent was made to say that, then what he had to be seeing was definitely bad. Uni tucked her Rifle under her armpit as she aimed at its arms, ready to fire. "Same strategy as before?" she asked them, to which the others all glanced amongst each other.

They then decided against it, "no, we'll stick with ranged combat." IF stated as she clicked a button on her Qatars' hilts, and several barrels suddenly slid out between the 3 blades. She aimed them like pistols at the enemy, before pressing another hidden button on the Hilts and letting loose a barrage of bullets. The bullets flew true and pierced the interior of the Armoured Starfish's fight set of arms, making it hiss as it stumbled back. Before roaring and throwing all 3 remaining arms at them. They each extended like Tentacles, swiftly coming down on them from multiple angles.

This forced them to scatter into different directions, Nepgear rolling onto her feet again as she jumped and tilted herself to dodge its lashes. The thing's arms were fast and flexible, keeping them at a distance. For her, whose combat ability was solely reliant on close quarters, she would be in a bind. 'Wait a minute, I remember one Skill that I have that strikes far!' she thought suddenly with widened eyes of realisation.

After dodging another arm swipe, Nepgear raised her sword to the skies, which began to glow with purple energy. She then reared it backwards, yelling "SLASH WAVE!" before quickly swinging in an upward motion and sending a large whitish purple wave of energy across the ground towards the Armoured Starfish. Her attack hit its supporting arms, making it stumble slightly.

"Nice one, Nepgear!" Vent yelled out in raise, noticing the arms quickly heading towards Compa. "Oh hell no you don't!" Swiftly he switched Vier to Gun Mode, aimed in front of the space where the arms were headed, and fired off several rounds. The Meteor rounds flew right into their line of fire, hitting the arms and stopping them just long enough for Compa to get up and move out of the way.

He then switched his target to the arms supporting it, quickly blasting them out from under it. He briefly saw 2 large holes appear in those arms shaped like his meteor rounds, before the monster fell flat on its front to the ground. He had literally shot to the stars. A low rumble accompanied its landing as it fell as widespread as a Starfish. 'Ugh, those were bad puns…' he thought, mentally groaning at the monologue there.

Moving on, Vent quickly took this opportunity, and blasted it even more with his Vier in Gun Mode. He saw Uni doing the same for a moment there and then looked to see ow much damage they were doing… before wincing at the apparent LACK of damage dealt to the monster.

'Ugh, I see… so we were hitting the interior before which means that we have literally given it a way to utilise its strongest defence…' the male cursed mentally, before beginning to weigh their options in his mind. It seemed that the creature's hide would be impenetrable thanks to how solid it is, so they would need something, or someone, to get under it without being fed on.

While he had been thinking, the Armoured Starfish's arms lashed out like Tentacles, slashing and thwacking at them. Uni blasted each one with her Rifle while Compa did the same with her Syringe, littering the arms with holes. The creature flailed and flapped about, obviously in extreme pain from the attack, while an idea popped into Vent's mind, making his eyes widen in realisation and eagerness, 'that could work!'

"IF, Uni, can you guys use fire attacks to cauterize wounds?!" he shouted over the sounds of explosions caused from their attacks.

Both looked at him and nodded, "Yeah, we can!" they yelled in union, before turning their heads and quickly following his advice. Uni fired large bullets made entirely out of flames while IF used her DEMON FLAMES skill, burning the Tentacles and cauterizing already existing wounds.

This made the creature scream even more than before, flapping its burning limbs to try and put out the flames. While doing so, it flipped onto its side, exposing its mouth, which they noticed. Before Vent could do anything more though, Uni took head and fired another blast of flame at its mouth, hitting it dead on. The Armoured Starfish screamed and flapped wildly in absolute agony while the flames burned through everything inside it, from its gut down to where its brain and heart were.

The creature's limbs soon began to slow their movements, until finally they fell to the ground with a thud, and the body began to disintegrate into Particles. The battle was over, and they had won. 'Whew, we managed to beat it…' Vent thought to himself, sighing in relief as he finally reverted Vier to Ring Mode. He wiped the top of his forehead for sweat, only to realise he wasn't as fatigued as he thought, making him arch a brow.

'… Huh, I'm not as tired as when I first battled that Blazewing Butterfly. I remember that fight took a bit longer to beat, but hey that was only at the start of my time in Gamindustri, I should have gotten stronger since then…' he thought to himself, a small smile breaking out onto his lips as if a criminal had just cheered for escaping his prison.

"Whew, that was a close one, huh…?" Compa mused, falling back onto her backside. She made a little sound of pain from her voice, but it wasn't anything serious, just a light bump on her bottom. "We're strong aren't' we?"

IF regarded where the Armoured Starfish had been for a bit, dismissing her Qatars as she crossed her arms under her chest. "I don't know, it seemed kind of sluggish to me. Maybe that's because it already ate, which meant it was already exhausted when we fought it?" her eyes narrowed, that possibility seemed to be more real the more time passed. It left a bitter taste on her tongue. "It may not be fair, but like Uni said, it's the law of the jungle."

Speaking of the blackette, she and Nepgear were standing beside each other by the side of the platform, their weapons resting against the wall that separated the platform from the ocean. The adrenaline flushed from her system, yet Uni still looked a little worse for wear. "There, all done! What did I tell you, easy or what?"

Nepgear, who looked just like Uni did, released a heavy breath from her chest, her heart having been pounding like a jackhammer through the entire experience. There were few times where Nepgear had fought against those monsters, the monsters that defied the norms of society like the Mirage Dragon in the Gamindustri Graveyard, so whenever she fought one she always felt out of breath. So far, she had only fought the Mirage Dragon, an Exiled Force and now an Armoured Starfish. Looking up from her recovery, Nepgear glanced to Uni with a look of awe on her face. "We finished so fast… Uni, you really are strong…"

Drinking that praise, Uni was. Gave praise back, Uni did, "Same goes for you, Nepgear." She said with a smile, one which became cockier the more time passed, "better than I thought, anyways. Nowhere near a match for me!"

"Aw, now your flattering me." However, Nepgear saw it as her complimenting her abilities, not registering what was said afterwards.

Meanwhile, the others who had come with them, IF, Compa and Vent, just watched the two bond after a heated battle. Each of them had similar pleased expressions on their faces as they watched the two girls having their little chat. "Heeheehee. Those two are already such close friends." Compa commented cheerily as she eyes the two girls.

IF had to agree with her on that one, "looks that way. I think this is the first time since we rescued her that Nepgear's been this happy." She remarked, looking at them like a mother would to her children. She had seen Nepgear's growth for some time now, so it was only expected that IF would care for her in a manner like that.

Vent's smile didn't carry any of the strenuous thoughts that circled his mind when he spoke, "yeah well, I bet it's because she's finally met another girl her age for the first time. She seems to have been sheltered away from most people, so it's only natural that she connects with Uni like this." He remarked as he observed the two. 'Perhaps she will actually still HAVE that friendship when Uni eventually discovers her identity as a CPU Candidate.' He thought in his mind. If not, then he had multiple plans in mind on how to mend or at least mitigate the damage.

"That's true," Compa nodded her head in agreement, but her smile still contained hints of what the other two felt was jealousy. Their assumptions were proven right by her next sentence, "But I'm a little bit jealous too… I mean, I've known Nepgear way longer than that girl…"

The male's eyes widened in surprise when he heard her say Nepgear's full name, as he turned to her with a 'WTF' expression on his face, "What the? Since when did you call Nepgear by her name and not Ge-Ge? I thought you couldn't pronounce it correctly, hence the nickname, Ge-Ge." he asked in shock.

Compa pouted at him with her cheeks puffed as she looked back at him, "how rude, I can pronounce my friend's names… sometimes… when they're easy today at least. I just like nicknames more. They're cuter." She told him, much to his surprise. It didn't abate one bit with this information, if anything it made him even more baffled.

"Oh stop it, you two." IF chided them as she pushed her way between them both. Compa and Vent looked at her while she had a look of amusement and a look of scolding mixed onto her face. "Stop being jealous of kids being kids, Compa. And Vent, don't question Compa's nicknames, she gets very passionate about them."

Both looked down and mumbled a few quick apologies, looking like two toddlers being scolded by their parents for doing something naughty. Just as they made to regain their normal expressions however…

"The hell do you brats think you're doing?! Having a picnic in the middle of a Dungeon?!"

"Huh? Gyaaaaa!"

"Kyaaaaaa!"

"Whoa, hoh Jesus!"

The three simultaneous cries of her friends drew Nepgear's attention to where they were, a look of shock formed on her face when she saw what happened. "IF? Compa? Vent?" she was greeted to the sight of both the Guild Agent and the Nurse knocked out cold, with Vent having instinctively switched Vier to Sword Mode and blocked a surprise attack from behind, quickly jumping back to get some distance from their new attacker. When he landed on the ground, sliding to a halt, Vent looked up and growled in anger and recognition at the familiar sight. "Ah, the Underling makes a surprise attack, oldest trick in the book."

"Shut it, yer bastard!" Underling growled, her bat showing a pair of dents in it where she had used it to hit Compa and IF on the head, knocking them unconscious. However, she had been unable to bonk him out of the running much to her irritation, but two for one wasn't too bad either in her mind, so she would let that go for now. "Heh, still did a good job though." She said with a mocking sneer, "Heh. I got rid of two Chaperones in one go after all. Next I think I'll deal with… you stupid little brats!" she ended her planned speech by pointing her Pipe towards Nepgear and Uni.

The latter of the two was not at all happy about being called a brat by this girl. 'That bitch is so going to get it…' she thought to herself. But when she realised that this girl knew Nepgear and Vent in some way, she looked towards them with an irritated scowl on her face. "Who's this?" she asked them not bothering to sugar-coat her words like she did with Nepgear before when mentioning her arms.

"I think her name was Underling. She's one of ASIC's low-ranking Peons."

"In order words, not someone worth remembering, but hey that's just the franchise's opinion."

That was their response, Nepgear's sounded confused and unsure of herself, while Vent's was a lot blunter and mocking. He even added some referencing for good measure, much to Underling's building anger.

Eventually, she snapped, her rage exploding like a volcanic eruption "Argh! I told you to stop calling me that!" she yelled while stomping her right boot repeatedly on the ground below her.

The moment that Uni realised that this girl was with the bad guys, her eyes narrowed in fierce anger, similar to that of Underlings but far more personal than it should have. "ASIC huh?" she mused while stepping forwards, grabbing her Rifle in the process as she held it by the trigger in front of her shoulder, the barrel facing upwards like she was about to fire at the sky. "Stay back, Nepgear, Vent, let me handle this one."

If she expected them to just stand back, she got another thing coming as Nepgear firmly jogged up to her side, her energy sword in hand. Vent was slowly moving forwards as well, his free hand twitching as he held Vier, now in Scythe Mode, in hand. "No way, we're fighting too! I can't let them get away with hurting my childhood friends!" she replied with a firm tone. And for the first time since she'd known her, and Vent too, they saw how angry she was when they looked into her eyes.

"And if you think I'd just sit back and watch you girls have all the fun? Nope, not happening, this bitch is going to pay FUCKING dearly for harming comrades of mine." Vent added, gritting his teeth as his hand clenched the shaft of his Scythe. He could feel the inner Ghoul growling in hunger as its power rose within him, eager to claim its next victim. His Kakuhous, both Ukaku and Rinkaku, shook with how many RC Cells were stored inside of them. They wanted to form his Kagune to rip this bitch apart.

 **'** **Oh I wouldn't do that just yet if I were you…'**

Shock filled his system, his eyes widening to express it when he heard that voice, that all too familiar voice.

"h-huh? Y-You…!"

Growing quickly tired of their bickering, Underling gritted her teeth and let out a groaning sound, slamming her pipe down to get their attention again, "hey, quit with the yappin', wouldja? You caught me off guard last time, but now I'll beat you into… a… huh?"

Whatever she was going to say was cut off from ever forming in her mouth and transferring into soundwaves that would reach the ears of the trio opposite her. The reason why that was? Simple, but oh so complicated at the same time. With a mighty battle cry Nepgear had taken to her HDD form, but that wasn't the only surprise waiting for her. No, Uni was also enveloped by the same light, and when it died down Underling gaped at the new person taking her place. Worse, when she looked to Vent, she got the shock of a lifetime, her eyes nearly flying out of her sockets.

The male had suddenly become enveloped in what looked like a crimson aura, like the colour of the lifeblood of the human race with lighting of matching colour but with a black outline. His eyes were shadowed by his hair and were glowing a haunting, sinister red just like that alternate eye he sported, just like the eyes of her boss, Lord Tatara. His arms hung limp at his sides with Vier having returned to its Ring Mode for some reason. The only reason she knew that the weapon was called that was due to her following him this whole time. With all this going on, Underling couldn't handle the stress anymore, and released a cry of frustration. "Y-Yer Kidding me?! What the hell, Man?!"


	14. Chapter 14 - fighting with Uni PT 2

**Chapter 14 - Fighting with Uni PT 2**

'Th-this power…'

Vent looked himself over after a moment of glowering at Underling, her cry having snapped him back to his senses after momentarily losing it for a second. He looked down at his hands, which were encased in the lightning and aura that was being generated. The power that he was feeling right now, well, the best he could attribute it to would be the Super Saiyan power in DBZ. He recalled a later episode in its sequel, not that G-something or whatever, that other one, where it was said by a wielder of the SSJ that it was like power was continuously overflowing from their bodies.

 **'** **An alright assumption, I'd say…'**

"You…" he muttered under his breath, Vent didn't want the girls to think he was acting crazy by talking to himself. "Who are you? I haven't heard from you since that dream."

 **'** **While I would LOVE to tell you everything, unfortunately I am limited in what I can say before your mind blacks out and everything I say is erased from your memory. As long as I don't go past that limit, then you'll remember it all. That's how it works, I'm afraid…'**

"You do seem less… crazy, right now. What's up with that?"

 **'** **Heh, believe me not being crazy is the hardest things to do, I mean come on! Who doesn't need a little insanity in their lives to make them fun?! Oh, and think what you wanna say, we have a mental link.'**

'Oh? Well nice to see you haven't lost your insanity completely I guess… Okay then, well what can you tell me?'

 **'** **Not much, since your about to go into battle. Just let your instincts guide you, that is the way of your power.'**

Blinking owlishly, Vent returned to the real world from his conversation with this strange voice in his head, and saw that the girls were ready to fight. Both Nepgear and… "uhhh, is that you, Uni?" he asked her which made Nepgear in HDD form turn to her, her eyes bulging at the sight before them.

Uni floated in front of them, clad in a new form. Her hair had turned from its previous black colour into a very light grayish white and was worn in curled drills while her bangs spiked outward and the side parts were shorter and very curled. Her eyes had become bright green instead of crimson. Her outfit looked like a one-piece leotard bodysuit, with long gloves that reached below her shoulders, with matching legwear that reached her thighs. Her outfit was black with silver as an outlining, and had 2 circular pieces in her hair. For a weapon, she had what looked like an oversized cannon, black with silver fractions. It looked to have green short lines down the barrel, with a circular piece over the ammo area. She held it in one hand, showing her physical strength off well.

"Me? What about you, where's that aura coming from?" the now transformed Uni questioned back as she observed his body covered in that strange aura. Every second she gazed at it, the feeling of looking into the eyes of an Apex Predator continued to grow and grow within her chest, resulting in a tight feeling in it. She didn't like it, nor the chills that ran down her spine. She didn't know why she was so afraid of this power, but it was very uncomfortable.

As he glanced down at his body the male tried to sum up what he had experienced without revealing the voice in his head. 'Something tells me mentioning that I have a voice in my head to someone I hardly know would make me sound like a moron…' he thought to himself, before speaking, "no clue, honestly. But this power seems to have been with me for a while. No clue where it comes from or what it is, but on the note of unknown powers what about you?" he questioned while making it look as though he hadn't realised who she was long ago.

"We can talk about that later, she's coming!"

Nepgear's remark brought them to the sight of Underling rushing at them with the intention of beating them black and blue. Vent went first, his lips twisting into a grin as his form suddenly blurred the rest of the shortening distance between them. Underling's eyes bulged out their sockets at this, "wha-" that was all she could get out as Vent appeared before her, cracking his index finger with a kick to her abdomen, making her gasp as she bended over, coughing up saliva from the force of the attack.

Chaining it to his next attack, Vent kicked her into the air. Instincts guided him to focus this new energy into his legs, and legs below the knee began to glow a crimson red, the aura around them twisting and flaring as if they were living flames. The male then called out, "FANG WAVE!" before kicking with his right leg like kicking a football. The foot he used condensed the energy around itself before releasing it at the middle of his kick as a large crescent wave of energy, sharp enough to look like a 'fang' hence the name.

The attack collided with Underling's body, resulting in a powerful explosion that sent her crashing to the ground, bouncing upwards on impact ready for Vent's next strike. The male dashed forwards again, the speed provided by this strange energy being immense. The male appeared beside her with his fist cocked back for an uppercut, the energy condensing into what looked like an energy gauntlet. "Here, taste my PHANTOM CLAW!" he then uppercutted Underling with his fist connecting to her back, sending her flying into the air again.

Appearing once again before her, but this time above the girl, Vent's legs began to glow once again, an indication that his next attack would be similar to the last. "FANG BARRAGE!" he called out before repeatedly kicking his legs, launching a long series of energy waves at his opponent. They each collided and sent Underling crashing down to the ground, cracks forming from the impact as he fell down and landed beside her, kicking Underling to Nepgear's direction, "Nepgear, you're up!"

"Right!"

The girl raised her Gunblade and fired several blasts that hit Underling dead on, making the girl wince as she twisted in mid-air to launch a slash with her Pipe. It was blocked by Nepgear though, and the girl decided to launch one of her own Skills, her blade glowing brightly in response to her skill. "MIRAGE DANCE!" she yelled as she slashed multiple times at her enemy, causing multiple gashes on her body, before Nepgear dashed forwards while cutting her side, all her cuts erupting into energy explosions.

She turned around, not finished with her assault yet, and raised her Gunblade for her second skill, "SLASH WAVE!" she swung her Gunblade and launched her energy attack, hitting Underling dead on and sending her towards the direction of the last conscious party member of their trio.

Uni, taking the initiative, quickly aimed her Gun, firing dozens of shots into Underling's damaged back, making her cry out before Uni used her Gun as a baseball bat, "here try this grey girl! Fore!" she yelled, swinging her Gun and letting the barrel collide with Underling's side. The sound of crushed bones resounded through the area from the strike, but none of them cared right now. All they were thinking were: punish the bitch for hurting my comrades/pride (Uni)

The white haired gun wielder then aimed her Gun once more, the interior beginning to glow a brighter green to indicate how it was now charging a Skill shot, much to Underling's horror as she realised what was about to happen, and was unable to prevent it. "EX: MULTI BLASTER!" she stomped her foot on the ground, swiftly got into her stance and fired a large bluish white beam from her Gun. The attack hit Underling dead on, making her cry out once again from the pain.

Her body gave in and the greenhead soon found herself on the ground stomach first, utterly defeated after boasting so much that she would have been able to win against them. One could tell she was feeling pretty humiliated right now as she clenched her fists, "Damnit!" she yelled, punching the ground which did not do her hand any favours, "this has to be considered cheating! Two CPU Candidates plus whatever the hell that guy is, against one normal person?! You'll pay!"

Before the trio could react, Underling pulled out a white coloured Disk. Vent quickly recognised it as an item called an 'eject button' that allowed for instant exiting of a dungeon, but be couldn't react quick enough to stop her from using it. A bright flash blinded them and when it died down, Underling was gone. 'Tch, so she had an escape option provided for her… Tatara must have been responsible for that one…' he thought to himself while clenching his fists.

While Vent was having his own mental debate, Nepgear and Uni faced each other, both having shocked looks plastered on their faces. This was likely their first meeting with another CPU Candidate so they were likely unsure of what to say. Well, that was Nepgear's thought process anyways, Uni's… "Nepgear… You're a…" she trailed off with disbelief.

Nepgear soon got over her's though and soon became exited, quickly gushing with said emotion, "You too Uni? Then you must be Lastation's CPU Candidate! I came here to look for you!"

Turning towards them after reining in his emotions, Vent looked and saw how Uni looked like she was about to lose her temper while Nepgear remained blissfully ignorant in her burst of excitement at finally meeting someone like her. A wince was unstoppable for him, 'Oh shit, looks like I was right, things are going to spiral downhill.' He thought to himself.

"Could you please help us?" Nepgear asked, not noticing the signs of an obvious blowing. She was just too excited to notice. "We want to save the CPUs—Our sisters – and protect Gamindustri…" at the end of her request Nepgear went closer to Lasation's CPU Candidate via hovering.

However, that's when the bomb was dropped as Uni lifted her Cannon and glared at Nepgear, pointing her Cannon at her, "Don't come any closer!" she yelled, electing a surprised squeak from the girl as she hovered back slightly. She was shocked at the new change in Uni's personality as well as concerned.

"Huh?"

"Why? Why are YOU here, and not my sister, huh!?" Uni yelled, pointing a finger accusingly towards the startled CPU Candidate. At the state she was in, the other Candidate was hardly going to listen to anyone else right now.

Now Nepgear was starting to become nervous, she had an inkling as to what was going on now and wasn't sure how to deal with it, "Oh… that's…" she began, but trailed off at the harsh glare directed at her towards the younger of the Lastation Goddesses.

Said CPU Candidate was on a roll, there was no stopping her now. "She didn't let me go along with her three years ago… I could've saved them if I went! I could've done what you failed to do!" she yelled, raising her voice higher and higher till the end of her words as she clenched a fist and looked away from her. She was unable to stomach looking at the one who had joined with the CPUs 3 years ago, at the one who failed to save them from what happened, from ASIC.

Nepgear looked down, feeling depression hang over her again, just like when she barely recovered from her 3 year stay in the Gamindustri Graveyard. "I… I'm really sorry…" she muttered, and Uni said nothing in response so she took that as her que to continue, "I couldn't help back then, but…" she shook her head and focused more on the present, it wouldn't do for her to reminisce on the bad memories right now. "I'm doing my best to rescue them now."

While she had been listening, Uni felt more and more disgusted, her emotions became a chaotic mess until she finally couldn't take it anymore. "Shut up!" she yelled after Nepgear's response, "I don't ever want to see you or hear your voice again!" she bellowed, before taking off into the skies towards Lastation.

Looking down as she left, Nepgear began to cry, feeling utterly dejected as she realised she had messed up. "Crud… I lost control, I couldn't do anything… just like before…" she mumbled, her hair shadowing her eyes as she returned to human form, no longer willing to maintain it.

Before she could completely break down, a pair of arms pulled her into an embrace. Her eyes widened and she gave a small cute squeak, not expecting such physical contact. Looking up, she saw who it was and her face went even redder, her hands unconsciously fiddling with each other. "U-um, Vent?"

The male, having had enough of seeing Nepgear's sadness, had pulled her into an embrace, her head in his chest area which gave her a good feel of his body. It was her first time being hugged by a boy, and it was completely not what she first thought it'd be. She originally assumed it wouldn't be as good as when her sister would sometimes hug her, and Neptune never hugged guys anyways since she A: didn't know any and B: didn't get as noticed by boys as she did. Nepgear probably wouldn't want to get hugged by a boy anyways, at least initially since they seemed like creeps whenever they looked at her.

Now that she was getting hugs from a boy, she realised she wasn't disturbed at all. It was quite the opposite, and Nepgear wondered why she was feeling so… nice, right now. It didn't take her long to realise one difference between those times and now: Vent was NOTHING like those guys. Unlike them, he had actually taken the time to get to know her first, didn't look at her in any creepy or perverted manner, and had already been doing several nice things to her, like help cheer her up or serve as a role model for her to get stronger. She remembered what IF had said about him, and weighed it from what she had seen from him, soon realising that she was right.

So, she did what she felt she should do right now: embrace back.

Soon, she began to cry, tears falling down her cheeks while her shoulders shook. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and wouldn't let go, not that he would either. This girl needed this right now, some emotional support. "There, there girl. Shhhh, sh-sh-sh-sh-shhhhhh, it's okay, it's okay…" he whispered into her ear.

"I-I'm sorry, I failed." Nepgear muttered, shaking her head. He could feel her movements on his chest as she gripped the sides of his jacket tightly in her tiny little hands. "What do I do? Uni hates me, all because of my weakness that got our sisters, the CPUs, captured…" she muttered in a sad, nigh broken voice that sent his heart into a burning inferno of rage, Vent didn't know this girl for long, but he'd be damned if he didn't help Nepgear's chances for making friends. That's what he planned before and nothing's changed now.

Gently pushing her back, Vent put his hands on her shoulders as he looked into her eyes, or tried to since she had her head hanging, "hey-hey, look at me, Nepgear." He told her, and soon she did so. His heart ached at seeing those tearful eyes, it wasn't an expression he liked seeing on her. "You did nothing wrong, alright? It's to be expected that the Candidates would react like this, didn't Histoire say that they would refuse at first? She probably meant something like this."

Nepgear nodded, remembering the concern in Histoire's eyes when she recalled her words to them about the other Candidates. They were all close to their sisters, so the truth of the matter was that they would likely be hostile for a bit due to misguided emotions. ASIC was too powerful for them, so she would be the next best thing for them. Still didn't mean it wouldn't hurt her already low self-esteem, though. "But what should I do? How can I make this right?"

"Don't worry about it, I have a few things in mind." Vent told her as he finally let go of her shoulders. She didn't care about that right now, she wanted to hear what he wanted to say. "I'll go talk to her, since she obviously doesn't want to see you at the moment, in the meantime you and the others should go find somewhere to stay, take the rest of the day off to relax and have fun. It'll help you regain some of your happiness. And speaking of said fun…" the male reached into the inside of his coat, moving one side to expose its interior and reaching for the interior with his other hand.

The younger Planeptune Goddess watched with awe as the interior seemed to open like a compartment, pushing out what looked like a rolled up blueprint and something else, she couldn't quite make it out. There was no damage and whatever he had contained it in didn't seem to wet the objects at all. Once he pulled them out the male showed them to the girl, "here's a few things I got for you while you were absorbed in your chat with Uni when we came here."

The moment she saw what they were, Nepgear's eyes quickly lost their previous sadness and became filled with stars, twinkling as she took the two items. "A plan for a mecha and a robot headpiece I haven't seen before?! Wowee, thanks! Thank you so much!" she exclaimed, hugging the male once again this time out of joy. She couldn't believe it; she had gotten a gift! And right at the perfect time too!

"hehehe, yeah figured you might like it. I had a few hunches and theories that led to this outcome, so I made preparations beforehand. This is just one of them." Vent explained, rubbing the back of his head nervously. He then turned serious, his eyes hardening as he lowered his arm to his side, "now I'll be off now. Let IF and Compa know what happened and that I'll be back later. Hopefully soon. I'll be seeing you later, Nepgear, have fun while I'm gone!"

As he said that, Vent slowly released his Ukaku, the Kagune having erupted from his back in the form of formless black mass, before it shaped itself into his Wings and gave a mighty flare. He had stepped back a few times to get some room. Just before he could take off though, he remembered something he had forgotten to say before. "Oh, and before I go, the head has a secret compartment inside that I stuffed something in for you. Find it when you're in a hotel room or isolated somewhere."

"O-Okay, I will!"

Nodding, Vent gave one last smile before he turned away. His eyes became hard again as his Ukaku gave a mighty flap. He had tested this once when on the road, and discovered that his Ukaku had the ability of flight, something he had not seen in the original Manga, its sequel or the Anime. He once read in a fanfiction that Ghouls with Ukaku Kagune could glide with them, but not flight. He was sure though that was from a crossover, the crimson something or other. Not important right now, finding Uni however?

Defo.

With that single flap, Vent took to the skies and headed off in the direction Uni had taken, having caught her scent with his Ghoulish nose and planning to use it to track her down. He'd make sure she got set straight by the time he found her, for Nepgear's sake.

After all, there was safety in numbers, of that he had learned during his vigilante days.

* * *

Flying through the skies in the direction that Uni had went off too, Vent began to ponder on what he would say to the girl. He knew that she was hurting thanks to her sister being gone for over 3 years. And to add icing on the cake Nepgear had come out of that place instead of her, which must have felt like a slap to the face for her. Then there was her pride, she probably couldn't stand being too weak to go help her sister, and then there was the fact that the one who did go ended up being unable to change anything, Vent figured that was her thought process on the matter.

It didn't take him long to get back to the city, and Vent landed somewhere isolated. He didn't want anyone to know about his Ghoul side for now, they could tip off the wrong kind of people and then make their mission even more difficult than it was right now. He had landed in the back of what looked to be an abandoned alleyway that led to a deserted street.

Sniffing the air, Vent once again confirmed Uni's scent, and rationalised with himself that it would make sense for someone who was distraught, angry and a bunch of other negative emotions to flee here. Why she hadn't gone back to the Basilicom where she most likely lived was a question he wasn't going to ask right now as he emerged from the alleyway and out onto the street. His Kagune had receded into him at this point, so he wouldn't be recognised, not that it would have made any difference since there were so few people right now. With that done, Vent made his way to the source of Uni's scent.

While walking through the street, Vent decided to contact that mysterious voice again. He could feel its presence as a constant thing now, instead of a lack of presence like before. 'So, Mr insane sounding voice… what happened back there?' he asked it.

The male felt a snort from within the deepest confines of his mind, and realised that the voice had just snorted, **'Tch, what a snobby way to start a chat, but whatever. If you want to call me something call me 'Rasen'. Anyways, you just unlocked your Skillset, the ones you used being OVERDRIVE, PHANTOM CLAW, FANG WAVE, and FANG BARRAGE.'**

Vent raised a brow in surprise, a light gasp coming from his throat as he struggled to process what the voice called 'Rasen', which if he knew his German correctly was the said language's word for 'Rage', told him. ''Wait, skills?! What the heck why do I have skills? I'm not originally from Hyperdimension, so how did I get them?'

Rasen giggled insanely, his giggles vibrating through his head like minor shockwaves through his skull. **'hehehe, surprise! You've got SKILLS, bitch! Don't worry your little head about it, master, you'll know once your full power awakens. And when you do, oh we'll show those scumbags who the REAL monster around here is! Ahahahahaha!'** in the end he was laughing like a patient in an insane asylum, and if he had a body Vent didn't doubt he would be rolling on the floor holding his gut to stop it from exploding.

Fortunately for Vent the laughter was short lived. Rasen quickly regained what little composure he had, the teen deciding that the voice was male so he would refer to the voice with masculine pronouns, and gave a more tolerable answer, **'Because you amateur, this body we have is changing. It's happening slowly, but its process is sped up every time you train this body. Your Kagune, as you call it, is also a result of this, as is your apparent Ghoul side.'**

Despite being an insane, mad voice in his head, Rasen was able to give him a tolerable answer. But even so, Vent didn't feel completely satisfied right now especially with the vagueness of the answer. 'I have a feeling that you wouldn't tell me much more than that, so… moving on, what the fuck are you?'

 **'** **Ooooh, language!'** Rasen giggled creepily, and this time the shockwaves were even stronger when they hit his skull, causing him to flinch involuntarily. **'You kiss your mother with that mouth? Anyways, call me a… manifestation of madness, rage, sorrow and desire for vengeance, every other negative emotion out there and all that shit. I embody every negative emotion you've felt, hence why I'm an insane lunatic psychopath, among other things.'**

A representation of his negative emotions? That sounded like some Tokyo Ghoul stuff to him, and that sounded awesome. Though he could see the logic in that, as throughout his days as a Vigilante Vent had felt those emotions the most out of everything else in the emotional spectrum. 'Ok Mr Psycho, then can you tell me why your acting up now of all times? I would have thought you'd di when I started seeing more positive things in life, like those girls.' Images of If, Nepgear and Compa flashed though his mind when he asked that.

The insane voice chuckled, amused and knowing what he was talking about, **'Why, you sound like you almost WANT me to disappear. Now why would you wanna think that?'**

'Just get to it already.'

 **'** **Fine, fine, spoilsport.'** If he had a face, Rasen would be pouting right now, of which Vent was glad he couldn't see. **'The reason I'm awake NOW is BECAUSE of this Dimension. I woke up when you were entering this happy-go-lucky place, my awakening only completed sooner thanks to that damn place being filled with negative energy. I just fed off that, and PRESTO! I'm alive, I'm ALIIIIVE!'**

The male had to sweat drop at the voice's behaviour, 'did you just reference the Prince in Garfield two?' he asked it, getting a teasing **'Maaaybe…'** from Rasen in a sing-song manner. Though he had to admit that with that logic it made sense why Rasen then remained incognito for the duration of the time between afterwards and the moment at Rebeat Resort. 'Then why you remained out of my conscious mind was likely because you used a lot of power to contact me, and had to gather energy from every negative instance I went through?'

 **'** **Ding-Ding-Ding! Give the boy a prize!'** Rasen cheered as he made several noises like the ones cheerleaders would use. **'Anyways, best hurry up because your prey's nearby. Don't wanna sound too crazy, do we?'**

Blinking owlishly, it took a moment for Vent to process that comment, and then he realised that he had been walking for so long he had reached the origin of the Scent: a city park that was fairly isolated, filled with equipment for children to play in while there were benches for the parents to sit and watch them. He spotted Uni sitting on one of the swings, looking down with an aura of depression over her.

She was muttering things about her sister, grumbling with anger as well as tears in the corners of her eyes. He could tell that she was very distraught, and when girls were distraught they could be impulsive and, in most cases, violent towards others, especially those with pride issues. He decided to be on the blunt side, perhaps that would throw her off enough to stem those instincts to kill.

"You know; you really should pick better places to brood. You look like you're an emo protagonist." His announcement of his presence had the effect of catching her off guard. Uni yelped as she nearly fell off the swing she was on. But that lasted for a second before she was up and pointing her Assault Rifle at him.

Quickly he raised a hands in a gesture pf surrender, "hey-hey, no need to shoot, I only came to talk. Though I guess my entrance should have been a bit better. Sorry about that." He apologised, rubbing the back of his truth, he could have made his entrance a bit better, now that he thought about it, but it was a mix of social insecurity and a pressure of getting blasted that resulted in what had just happened.

Slowly, but still wary of him, Uni lowered her gun and glared at him. "You're with Nepgear…" she said, clenching her teeth at the thought of the purplette. She still felt hot rage and jealous towards her for the reasons she had already stated back there at the Dungeon. "What do you want? I told her I never wanted to see her again!"

"Hey, I came here on my own, you know." Vent said in his defence. Just by looking at her he had been able to tell she was still rattled by the freak-out she had with the Planeptune CPU Candidate. It didn't ease her anger, but it did make her lower her gun a little. "Okay, good… phew, I thought I was gonna be blasted to bits and turned into a sheesh kabab there." He mused to himself, before shaking his head and deciding to get serious.

He placed his hands inside his pockets while mentally he was readying his Kagune. Something told him he would need it soon enough. "I just want to clarify something: you're angry that your sister didn't take you to the battlefield right? So why were you so upset with Nepgear? You know it's not her fault, right?" he asked her, waiting for her response.

That didn't last long as she snarled at him. "What happened between us is none of your business, outsider!" she yelled, pointing her gun at him again. "Outsiders should stay out of this! I'm not even sure why Nepgear or the others even put up with you, you probably just like ogling their chests or buts like every other guy in Gamindustri!" she shouted at the end, before pulling the trigger and firing a blast of green at him.

She missed the male's eyes becoming shadowed by his hair as the bullet neared him. Though she didn't miss how his form vanished into thin air, making her gasp in shock, stumbling backwards. The girl gasped again when he appeared before her and grasped her by the neck in one hand, having kicked her Rifle out of her hands and forcefully slammed her into the ground. Her mouth shot open as she coughed up saliva from the force of the blow, her eyes filled with surprise at the attack.

But before she could glare and shout at him to let her go, her form stiffened when she saw his eyes. The first thing that made her freeze was his eyes; one of them maintained its usual colour while the other was something she would only find in her worst nightmares. The black abyss that replaced the white sclera the crimson red iris that shook continuously along with the red veins that spread over the side of his face sent chills down his spine.

The second thing that makes her freeze was the look of unbridled RAGE on his face. "When a friend of mine is hurt emotionally and physically from someone else's cruel words, words said to her just after she had recovered from the mental damage done to her in that hellhole, THEN I make it MY business." He snarled, his tone so low that she could barely hear it at all. But Uni wished she couldn't so she could recover from the sheer terror that was gripping her heart. She couldn't even move her legs to kick him off as something had coiled around them, from her ankles to her knees, preventing mobility. Not like the fear she was experiencing would let her. Also, her arms were pinned the same way, and a knee was being forced onto her chest making it difficult to breathe.

Vent then raised a finger. "And second..." he raised another finger. "Don't you DARE assume I would do that to people I consider comrades. The very thought of doing that to them, making me out to be like most of my gender, disgusts me more than you can ever imagine." His scowl worsened and she saw something rising above him out the top of her vision. Her eyes shrunk to the size of dots when she saw a pair of Tentacles aiming their tips at her, as if they were about to spear right through her eyes. "Now I will ask once more, what gave you the gall to talk about those things to Nepgear? What gave you the RIGHT?!"

After staring into his mismatched eyes, seeing the rage and hatred held within those orbs, Uni couldn't take it anymore. "I GET IT, ALRIGHT, I'M SORRY!" she exploded, much to his surprise, but his grip only loosened just enough for her to breathe. Motions were still out of her grasp, but right now she didn't give a damn anymore. "I just-couldn't help it. For 3 years I never saw my sister. I hear horrible things are being done to her when I spy on ASIC groups who laugh about it, LAUGH! Do you have any idea what that feels like? To hear people laughing at your sister's torment and are unable to do anything to help?! It hurts! And when I learn of someone who has escaped that place, I get all my hopes up and then I find out that it's not my sister?! I couldn't take it! I just…"

As she vented at him, all of Uni's emotions drained out of her like water running from a tap at maximum. She soon was left with only the uncomfortable sickness known as sadness, along with a side of loneliness as tears prickle at the corners of her eyes. "I just miss her, alright…"

Seeing this, combined with everything else and the tears in the corners of his eyes made Vent's anger dissipate and his eyes wide with surprise. That was what Uni saw anyways, until his mouth turned into a small smirk. "Feel better now?" he asked while standing up from her. His Tentacles, which had retrained her uncoiled from her limbs before retreating back to his side.

Uni blinked at him in confusion, wondering what the heck he was talking about. But then, when she felt herself she did indeed feel a change… none of which was negative. A small smile formed on her lips as she gave a chuckle. "Yeah, I do… better than I've felt in years." She remarked, slowly getting to her feet. When she did get up though and after she picked up her Gun, the blackette turned to him with a stern look and a mild tone of irritation, "you did that on purpose didn't you?"

Caught red handed, he was, and Vent didn't deny it. Tsunderes were people who weren't honest about their feelings, and Uni looked like a damn personification of that trope to him. That was why he had approached her the way he did, what better way to get one's thoughts out than the ominous notion that they were going to die? The fear from that would force them to showcase their true feelings and be honest with themselves. He may not like being compared to the rest of his gender, but Vent didn't mind using fear to his advantage. He did that a lot during his Vigilante days.

People would try to skate around the issue with girls like this, but Vent? Nope, go straight to the source, with none of that bullshit.

The male gave a lopsided grin as he tilted his head to the side and pocketed his hands. "Maaaaybe." He mused, chuckling before he answered for real. "Just kidding. Anyways, yeah I did. I figured you out from the moment I saw you, observing your reactions to a T to get my hypothesis alright. I figured that you said all that mean stuff before because of your overwhelming emotions, so I decided to force you to vent it all, I just was the tool."

Uni stood there, blinking owlishly. She then gained an epiphany as it dawned on her. "That's why… I sometimes caught your calculative gazes on me and you always looked like you were thinking hard afterwards…" she muttered under her breath. She then shook her head and gave him a stare that Vent honestly didn't know what to make of. "You're an observant one, I'll give you that."

"What can I say, it was in my job description." He mused while shrugging his shoulders. He saw that she was about to ask a question, but beat her to it. "If you want to know what I mean by that then I was a Vigilante by night and otaku by day. I did what most wouldn't dare do, and took the law into my own hands. Too many criminals were abusing the law, so I decided to do something about it." He explained.

Hearing this, Uni gaped at him, trying to regain her composure from what he just told her. It was likely that he was the only guys he had met that had ever done something like that. "Serious? Wow, damn. That's pretty impressive…" she remarked in amazement. Thanks to her recent venting, Uni felt a lot better than she did before. Like she said to Vent, she felt better than she had in a long time. Uni didn't know a lot of people other than her sister, so she didn't have many people to confide with. And in times like these, that would have been very helpful to her.

Then, her eyes become downcast as memories of their last encounter in the Dungeon replayed themselves like a tape recorder in her mind. She felt a whole new level of guilt as she gave him a questioning look, mixed in with guilt. "What should I do now though? I've hurt someone who doesn't deserve it, and to top it all of… I'm still not strong enough to save my sister if I lost it like that." She asked him, almost pleading for some advice.

Vent furrowed his brows. This situation reminded him a lot of what Yamori used to say before he was killed by Juzou after being weakened by Kaneki. All weakness in this world id sue to lack of ability. Fortunately, he had planned for that too as he walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Well for one, apologising to Nepgear when you see her next would be a good start. Then, perhaps consider her proposal of teamwork. What one can't do on their own they can do with others beside them. You don't have to do it immediately, but the first one should take priority. I may have calmed her down before I came here but she will still think you hate her."

The blackette pondered what he said, attempting to take his words in. she guessed she could apologise to Nepgear about what she said about never wanting to see her again, but right now her emotions were too jumbled up. Plus, she was very tired now, that emotional breakdown she had drained a lot of her mental stamina. "Ugh… so tired…" the girl moaned with fatigue, feeling the weariness wash over her.

At this, Vent sighed, understanding radiating from his eyes as he regarded her carefully. "Looks like you had a trying day. I'll bring you back to the Basilicom, that's the only place I can think of that you would life in." he said while walking towards her with his Rinkaku Kagune swaying behind him, calm like his emotions.

Her eyes widened at the offer, and quickly Uni made to protest. "No-wait-wait-wait! You don't need to-" she tried to speak, only to go "Eep!" in surprise when she was lifted into the male's arms bridal style, the said Hybrid not even flinching with her weight. "What are you doing?! Unhand me this instant!" she yelled, or tried to but the intensity of her words lessened thanks to how tired she was.

"You can barely walk right now so shut up and let me take you home." He stated firmly, his eyes shining with his resolve. There would be no arguing with him, call it stubbornness but he didn't trust her to be alone on the streets with how tired she was. In his experience that was the type of girl, many unsavoury people would go after. This was his inner vigilante talking, though, but he listened to it most of the time. **'Ooooh, you sly dog, you!'** Rasen said in his mind, teasingly. 'Shut it, you!' Vent yelled back.

His words silenced all protests from the black haired CPU Candidate, who looked down and blushed like a tomato. Her face was so red that she was surprised she wasn't getting a stroke from how much embarrassment she was under. Uni wasn't into anything affectionate like normal girls, no she was far unlike any normal girl who liked shopping and clothes. She was into more tomboyish things like guns and fighting monsters. Thus, she had never been in situations where someone like Vent was carrying her like this.

But with the amount of time she had never seen her sister, and with how lonely she had been feeling thanks to not having many friends or people she could confide in, she felt majorly overwhelmed by feelings she had never felt before, embarrassment at being carried like a bride was at the top of the list.

'Well, at least its someone who actually helped me when I needed it. But, if he talks to anyone about this otherwise he'll get it.' She thought, her old self returning as the male carried her away from the park.


	15. Chapter 15 - Meeting Kei

**Chapter 15 - Meeting Kei**

It was late at night when Vent returned to the other members of the party. They had texted him after he told them he had finished his business with Uni where they were staying at for the night. IF had reasoned that since they were a party they had to do their job together, which Vent was thankful for. He didn't want to miss out on anything interesting because he was away doing important business for the party's future.

The male entered the hotel they were at and checked in with the reception, soon learning the door that led to the room that the others were located. He walked up the stairs as the elevators were out of order (Don't you hate it when that happens?) as well as walked along the corridor till he found their room. Raising a hand, Vent knocked on the door, "hey girls you awake still? It's me, Vent."

"Coming!"

Hearing the sound of Compa's voice made the male sigh in relief, glad that he hadn't woken them up from any sleep or something like that. The sounds of footsteps could be heard behind the door while he waited, and soon enough the door opened to reveal Compa's beaming grin. "Ven-Ven, your back!" she exclaimed happily while pulling him inside, closing the door behind them.

"You guys doing alright?" he asked while looking around the room they were in. it fit the lactation color scheme of black with hints of silver and grey, with the floors, walls and ceiling being black with the silver outlining their edges, corners and overall frames. There was a TV at the corner of the room with an assertion of consoles under its black and grey stand. They were likely to be Lastation consoles, the male figured. The room seemed to have an attached Bathroom and a small kitchen for meals, while a set of 4 2 seater sofas were arranged in a square if one looked closely, a black table in the middle with a grey carpet under it.

IF, who had been sitting on one of the Sofas with one leg crossed over the other, looked up and noticed him. "Yeah we're good. Gear decided to hold off on the search till tomorrow after we did some more quests. You should have received notification of new credits added to your account, right?"

The male nodded, having noted the messages on his phone during his talk with Uni. "Yea, I did. Thanks for that BTW. Anyways, I managed to calm Uni down and convinced her to consider Nepgear's proposal." He told them, though he decided not to tell them about her emotional breakdown, something told him that would end up backfiring on them later down the line.

Standing up from the sofa, the brunette nodded at him with a stern serious look to her. "Well, that's the best we can hope for anyways, I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree…" she remarked, crossing her arms under her chest.

"Let me guess, her sister was a lot like her, personality wise?"

IF nodded, chuckling in amusement which confused the male. Sensing that he was confused, the brunette elaborated. "Sometimes I forget how observant you are, but yeah, Noire and Uni are almost identical in personalities, but Uni's more open than her. Comes with the perks of being only a Candidate I guess." She explained to him.

Vent raised a brow, something about her sentence sparked a curiosity inside him, and he wanted to look into it, so why not now? "You talk like you knew who she was from the very beginning…"

At this, Compa became the one to answer his query this time, before the brunette could, "your right, Iffy and I did know, but only because we sometimes visited with Nep-Nep when she would go to Lastation to avoid getting chewed out by Histy for not doing her work." She explained to him, making the male sweat drop.

"I get the feeling that this Neptune is a lazy one…" he remarked with a befuddled expression on his face, as well as a sweat drop. He hadn't heard much about the sister of Nepgear, but from what he did hear about her he got the picture of someone sprawled out on a chair all day doing nothing.

Hearing his words, IF couldn't help but snort in a mix of agitation and amusement, "Lazy doesn't even begin to describe it. She's like the complete opposite of Histoire in terms of work rate anyways." She explained to him, memories playing over in her mind. She remembered when Neptune would get scolded by Histoire for not doing her work, only for it to go in one ear, and out of the other until she would force Neptune out on quests. Sometimes she had to step in with the whip and chain, hearing how Neptune would whine 'traaaaiiitooor, iffy!' it made her chuckle a little.

As he heard this, Vent just had to wonder. "How is she still a Goddess then?" he asked with surprise. Surely someone like that at the head of a nation would make it go down into ruin. If that was what Histoire had to deal with he suddenly felt a lot more respect for her.

Compa giggled at the face he was making, already knowing what he was thinking just from seeing that alone. "Oh don't be like that, Ven-Ven. Nep-Nep is Nep-Nep and that's all that matters to me." She told him.

The male mumbled a half-hearted, "If you say so…" under his breath, but nobody heard that, or at least Compa didn't. if the Guild Agent hadn't heard it she didn't show it as she was now back on her phone while looking out the window at the back of the room. Looking around, Vent then noticed someone missing, "hey wait a sec, where's Nepgear?" he asked them, now realizing that the said CPU Candidate wasn't in the room with them.

Compa gestured to a door next to the one that had the bathroom extension, "Ge-Ge wore herself out playing with that stuff you got her, Ven-Ven. It's all she's been doing all day. She just conked out an hour before you returned." She explained, sighing. She then adopted a look that could almost be called jealousy as she pouted, "Ge-Ge spent more time with Ven-Ven when we were knocked out by that meanie Underling… I wanna have fun with Ge-Ge like Ven-Ven…"

Vent's face went scarlet at the implications, and he almost fell over at the sudden words she had said. He quickly yelled out. "Hey, that's not what happened before! I thought I told you not to assume things like you did with IF!"

The mentioned brunette glared at Vent when she heard that, knowing that he was shifting the blame over to her. "Hey don't fling me to the wolves!" she yelled with her face becoming flushed. She remembered that incident well and even now couldn't get over how embarrassing it was for her.

Eventually, she let out a tired sigh. "Look we should stop this nonsense and get some sleep. Gear took one of the 2 beds, so one of us has to take the couch while the other 2 sleep in the same bed." She told them, looking at the male for his response. She wondered if he would take the couch considering the situation, most of her hoped that at least. Hey in these situations, most people would jump at the chance to sleep with a cute girl, so cut her some slack!

"I'll take the couch, no questions about it." The said male stated, and it was a combination of that, plus the firmness in his eyes, that made a sigh of relief come out of the brunette as she stood up, nodding with a small smile. She was glad that he was being considerate about this, and she knew he was based off the look he had in his eyes.

Compa though, she didn't have the same mindset as the two and pouted even more. "Iffy, that's not fair for Ven-Ven! He's worked hard today, so he should have the maximum comfort." She protested while pumping her arms in front of her chest. She didn't think it was fair that Vent had to sleep on the couch while they got some cozy beds.

The male waved off her concerns though, opting to convince her in IF's stead, "it's okay, Compa. I can use the cushions for a makeshift bed then put them back in the morning. I bet there's a quilt in that closet over there so I can use that for warmth." He told her, gesturing to a tall closet opening on another section of the side wall. Usually Hotels would have extra bedding so those who had larger parties could use them for makeshift beds, or to switch out when rooms aren't in use or when the other bedding is being washed.

That was what he was counting on.

While the Nurse looked like she wanted to protest, she eventually relented as she realized that Vent was right. It was really the only comfortable situation for them, considering the mixed genders of their party. In a way, she was happy that he was being considerate for their privacy, but she didn't like that he had to have less than the good accommodations he needed after working so hard.

* * *

In the end, IF and Compa went inside the bedroom to get changed for bed, while Vent unleashed his Rinkaku gather the cushions and form a makeshift bed on an open space on the floor. He used 2 others for makeshift pillowcases while another went and opened the closet, soon taking out a quilt cover like he had expected it to have. He then proceeded to change clothes.

Well, more like rearrange the clothes on his person. Ever since he had come into this world, Vent had faced the issue of changing clothes in front of others, especially girls. He didn't have an inventory which could switch clothes out for him, so that left him with a problem. That was something he had solved with his Kagune, recalling how Uta had made his Kagune into piercings while Donato had made his Kagune into a Clone of himself, clothes and all. His case would be relatively easier than that.

Thus, he had replaced his original clothes with a duplicate attire made out of his Kagune and the results were spectacular. The benefits weren't limited to just ever changing clothes on mental command though, oh no they could absorb excessive sweat, bacteria as well as didn't wrinkle when training. They also acted as an extra layer of defence against enemy attacks since they were made from dense but flexible RC Cells.

His clothes lost their colours, becoming a set of RC Cells moulded into red flesh. This fleshy membrane then gathered at his waist and legs, before turning black and becoming baggy. In seconds he had a pair of tracksuit bottoms on while his upper body, shoulders, arms, and feet remained bare. He always did prefer sleeping shirtless since it was more comfortable for him.

After his Rinkaku made his bed for him, Vent flopped onto the covers, feeling the fatigue wash over him and in no time flat, the male was fast asleep with his Rinkaku having pulled the covers over him before receding into his body.

* * *

 _Death hung around him, fire and soot being everywhere he saw. Vent panted and gasped as he ran through the Gamindustri Graveyard, which had turned into a literal warzone with how many forces were assaulting it in hopes of rescuing their CPUs, with their Candidates at the lead of them all. The male had gotten separated from the main force and was currently making his way to where he had recalled the CPUs were._

 _His lungs cried out in protest at the strain he was placing on them with how fast he was going without having much time to collect the necessary air for his body, but he pushed on. His throat tightened to an uncomfortable level_ with _how dry it was, having been fighting for so long that his fluids had dried up and his body now was dehydrated. But he didn't care, Vet just pushed on hoping that those girls were alright._

 _'_ _Please, please let me make it in time!'_

 _Fighting through monster hordes was vicious work, especially the newer monsters that were bred in the Gamindustri Graveyard, but Vent was no slacker when it came to combat, his training as a vigilante as well as an adventurer with the Candidates made sure of that. After many battles, the now exhausted and pissed off Vent managed to get to the place where he'd found the CPUs last, and what a sight it was._

 _There they were, still in the same positions he had seen them in last. However, to Vent they looked to be even worse than when he had seen them before, which filled his rage meter to maximum levels and nearly overwhelmed his senses. But he managed to contain himself, now was not the time to lose it, the girls weren't here so he had to get this started himself._

 _"_ _Don't worry CPUs, I'll get you out of there!" he yelled, rushing over the clearing to them. Unfortunately, that would not be happening as just as he reached the halfway point of his trek, Vent's instincts reacted and the male propelled himself back using his Kagune. He landed on the ground, sliding to a halt before looking up at who dared to block him._

 _He couldn't see who it was thanks to the form it was in being blurry, but his instincts seemed to know what it was, and that was enough to ignite his rage even further, the beast within struggling harder to break its bonds. He could hear its inhuman shrieks and screeches through the back of his mind, trying to tear through his brain and out his skull. "Alright, fucker…"_

 _Vent gave a feral snarl, his Kakugan flaring to life as he got into a battle stance. His Kagune was activated, each of them ready to rip, tear and shred into his opponent who hissed at him, coiling its blurred body to pounce at him. He gave it a glare as furious as a firestorm would be as something else was triggered, something more powerful than anything Gamindustri had ever seen before._

 _And all the more sinister than the Deity of sin itself._

 _"_ _LETS DANCE THE DA_ _ **NCE**_ _ **OF DEATH, BITCH!"**_

* * *

"#GASP#"

Vent's eyes shot open as he gasped, quickly sitting upwards as he breathed erratically. Sweat rolled down his forehead as well as his upper body, showing how badly composed he was while dealing with this. His heavy breathing persisted for a few minutes as his mind raced with images of his dream, or rather his nightmare, until his heartbeat began to calm down with the silence that reined over him.

"A… a dream… it was just a dream…"

The male constantly mumbled that chant like a cultist in a sacred ritual for a moment, until his body calmed down and his breathing returned to normal. Releasing a big sigh at the end, the male glanced to the side, looking out the window. He could tell it was early morning thanks to the sun, so he got out of bed and walked to the window, so he could get a better look. 'if I had to guess… I'd say it'd be 7AM. Well, I guess I could go into the shower to get ready first.'

With that in mind, Vent walked to the bathroom, about to open the door when he stopped just before reaching the handle. His eyes narrowed despite his mind not being fully awake yet, as he wondered if anyone else was up. Slowly, he leaned against the door, listening in for any signs of activity. His Ghoul senses were not dull even in the mornings, so he could use them to see if anyone else was awake.

No sounds were heard behind the door, but Vent was a cautious person, it was how he had survived being a Vigilante for so long. Slowly he opened the door, until he opened it fully and saw that there was nobody there. 'Phew, possible fanservice scene avoided.' He thought, sighing in relief. 'Don't want to have the bad luck of harem protagonists combined with the stereotypical bath scenes… by gods it's weird that I' thinking this stuff when I never thought about it in my world…' he thought with a mental chuckle.

 **'** **I feel you, master. I feel your pain, dude.'**

'Oh, hey Rasen, good morning,'

 **'** **U too, and all that shit. Anyways, what's this about a nightmare?'**

'No idea, have been having them since I first saw those girls like that. I just ignore them for the most part, but every time the scenery gets clearer and I recall more afterwards.'

 **'** **Hmmm, I would give you some advice if I had any besides 'just man the fuck up and deal with it' like you usually do.'**

'Thanks a bunch.'

 **'** **Do I detect 'sarcasm' there, master?'**

'… No comment.'

Shutting the Link down for now, Vent finished his morning routine of showering, brushing his teeth, drying himself, and then getting dressed back into his usual attire which just involved the forming of the clothes from RC Cells. His Kakuhous had adapted so that the RC Cells he needed for clothes were separated from the rest, so he didn't have to worry about wasting power.

After getting dressed, Vent went out the bathroom to make breakfast, walking to the small kitchen to prepare some breakfast for the others. His instincts told him he would be having their company soon, and he was right when he saw the door open to allow Nepgear, who was wearing some pink frilly PJ's with fluffy pink slippers with a dark purple N on them, to walk out. She was still rubbing her eyes of sleep while yawning, and he had to admit it was an adorable sight.

When she noticed him, Nepgear smiled at him with a small wave. "Morning Vent, how are you?" she asked him, yawning with a 'munya!' while covering her mouth. Even if she was tired, she still had social etiquette.

"I'm good. Just finished in the bathroom, so go ahead. I made sure to avoid any bathroom scenes." He stated, smirking mentally at the sudden red face that Nepgear sported, no doubt she was imagining something lewd as she rushed into the bathroom with a sudden burst of energy, too embarrassed to look at him right now.

Afterwards, it became routine for him: greet the other girls, prepare breakfast while they got ready for the day, have breakfast and then head out. While he was concerned about the nightmares, hell anyone would be rattled by a nightmare, Vent wouldn't let it affect his daily activities. He had a job to do, a job that had high stakes behind it, and he planned on doing it to the fullest.

* * *

Once the party had finished everything up, they decided to go out into the city to look for clues, spreading out to cover more ground. The City of Lastation was quite large, so it would have been faster if they split off into smaller groups. Since he had already shown he could take care of himself, Vent had volunteered to travel alone, but the numbers didn't lie. They would need 2 groups of 2 thanks to their numbers, if it were an odd number like 5 or 7, then he would have gone on his own, but since it wasn't he had to take Nepgear with him.

The two wandered the streets as they looked for clues about the Mascot of Lastation's location. However, every time they asked someone they would either look at them like they were crazy or would be just plain clueless. "booo, this doesn't seem to be going too good, does it…?" Nepgear moaned in depression, her confidence shot thanks to the constant failures to get anything good. "IF will likely get mad if we don't get any info."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Vent spoke, getting her attention. "What I mean is when she suggested we look around for clues, I noticed something in her eyes, a flash of hesitation, though it was gone before anyone but me could notice." Vent explained as he recalled that particular moment. He had been confused as to why the girl was hesitant on something, but didn't get a chance to ask thanks to this search party.

Tilting her head in confusion, Nepgear hummed as she thought it over. "That IS strange… it's not like IF to be like that, if she is. I wonder what could cause her to have such a reaction-KYA!"

While she had been mumbling, Vent had suddenly pulled her close to him, pushing her face into his chest. Before she could cry out anymore, the male leaned down and whispered, "Hush, we're getting near some of THEM." Subtly, he gestured to his left, and when Nepgear glanced out she saw what was bothering him: An ASIC market shop.

The two walked past the shop, which consisted of various hooded individuals trying to sell ASIC merchandise to the local populace. It didn't look like it was going well, probably due to Lastation's strong faith in its remaining leaders which were likely to be the Candidate and the Oracle. Nevertheless, they didn't want to be recognized by those goons in case they try something dangerous. It had happened before when they were in Planeptune, ASIC launched these strange Disks at them after completing a Quest for the Guild, which spawned monsters in the middle of the streets. Ever since, they had to watch themselves carefully otherwise they would be recognized.

As they made their way past the shop and put some distance between it, Vent gauged the chances of them getting noticed until they were at 0, which by then they were far away from the store. He then sighed in relief. "Phew, that was a close one, I thought they would almost get us that time…" he mused, wiping the imaginary sweat off his brow. He wasn't afraid of taking ASIC on, it was just that he would rather not do it with so many innocents that could get caught in the crossfire.

A small poke to the side made him remember that Nepgear was still being held close to him, and thus with a quick startled cry, Vent let her go, her face flushed from the experience. "I-I'm so sorry, Nepgear, I was just-" he tried to say.

However, the girl shook her head, her hair swaying behind her as she waved her hands in front of her face, "its-it's okay, really. Anyways, we should get going, that small misstep cost us valuable time to get information about the Mascot."

With a gulp that swallowed his remaining words before they could come out, Vent nodded as he switched to serious mode. Wait, when was he ever not in serious mode? **'Never, master dude. Neveeeer!'** Vent ignored the mental singing of his mental tenant as he and Nepgear continued searching for information.

* * *

By the time midday arrived, none of the party had managed to get any solid leads, so they all reconvened at a local park that IF had picked out because of its location, it being out of the way of much of the market so there would be a lack of ASIC presence there. Nepgear sat on a Bench along the main path with Compa, while Vent and IF remained standing.

It was their resident Nurse who began the conversation with a sigh, "We aren't having any luck with the Mascot, are we?" she asked them, though it really served in breaking the tension the party was under thanks to their failure to gather leads.

Nepgear nodded her head in agreement as she poked her index fingers together, nervously. "We asked around as much as we could. Maybe nobody here knows about it?" she suggested. It would make sense, considering the secrecy of them.

"I'd say so; it would make sense considering how they have to be kept secret for their role to work to its best. If the common folk knew about them ASIC or other people like them would know where they were way before now." Vent commented as he thought about the situation. He could see that IF was struggling with something based off how she was mildly shuffling in discomfort, which became more and more apparent with each of their speeches. 'Looks like I was right earlier.' He thought, noticing that Nepgear's eyes were also on her, 'and Nepgear knows it too…'

Finally, IF began to speak as she stopped shuffling when all eyes were on her, "well, I'd have to agree with Vent and Gear. Man… no option left. Let's go see this nation's Oracle." She said, although she looked none too thrilled about the idea. It wouldn't be wrong to say she was annoyed for some reason.

A reason which intrigued the others. "Oracle?" Nepgear mumbled in slight confusion, before realisation dawned on her, "Oh, that's right. Every Nation has someone like Histoire helping the CPU, right?" she asked, although in her mind she was imagining a set of four identical Histoire's. Then, she banished the thought that would be a bit weird considering Histoire was supposed to be one of a Kind.

But Compa had a question that Vent had been wondering about through all this time. "But Iffy, why didn't we go see the Oracle first if you knew she'd be able to help?" she asked her, to which Vent nodded his head in agreement. He could tell there was something IF didn't have much fondness over about this Oracle, unlike Histoire, but what was it?

The Guild Agent sighed as she uncrossed her arms from her chest, kicking a stray pebble with her boot as she explained to them, "honestly, I still don't want to go. The Oracle here doesn't have the best reputation, sort to speak." Her explanation was vague, but it was clear to them that IF had heard some… concerning rumours about this person, and that alone warranted caution in Vent's mind.

'Oh wait, this sounds like we're dealing with some shady businessmen… I know those types well back in my world…' he thought, remembering all the businessmen and women that he had taken down for illegal dealings of drugs and other nasty crimes. If this Oracle was as bad as IF was making her out to be, then he had to be wary. Nevertheless, Vent kept those thoughts to himself as the party left the park and made their way to the Basilicom.

* * *

It didn't take them long to arrive at the Basilicom, and like what Nepgear and Vent had done, they had to avoid the streets that were sporting ASIC stores. Fortunately, that didn't slow them down too much since they were used to it, but nonetheless their nerves were settled once they reached the entrance.

Vent opened the doors to the main hall of the Basilicom, ushering the girls inside before closing the door behind him, ending up at the back of the party.

"Pardon us."

"Hello."

Those were the greetings of both IF and Compa, in that order. Whilst the latter's was calm and friendly despite the things she had heard about the Oracle, the former's was stern and professional, the complete opposite.

The one they were greeting had been looking at a datapad in the middle of the hallway, which alone seemed off to the male. It was like she had known they would be coming somehow, and the only things that Vent could think of would either be Uni or a possible information network. He was slowly leaning towards the latter A: because of Uni's prideful personality, and B: he had never met this person in the time he first visited the Basilicom, Uni had just told him to put her down by the entrance and she went inside… but not before punching him in the side for scaring her into confessing her emotions. While it didn't hurt him, he had to admit the girl had claws.

The person looked up and noticed them coming, after hearing the two greetings of course. It was a girl, though Vent found it slightly difficult to tell at first since she had a business ad boyish aura to her, though thanks to his senses he was able to tell otherwise. The girl had pale skin and boyish-cut silver hair. Her eyes were a bright aqua blue colour, which reflected the screen of her datapad. She wore a near-formal black suit with silver lining with many buttons and shorts, instead of jeans or pants. On her feet, she wore black socks with white detailing, and slip on black shoes with small blue and silver detailing on the top. Two long tails come from the jacket and have blue colouring inside. Under her black suit was a white button-up shirt and light blue necktie, the collar having symmetrical black linings.

Instinctively Vent clutched onto Vier, his weapon just short of shifting into one of its Modes. This woman… he could tell she was not someone who went into things without a plan. It was like he was looking at a fellow predator, but one of the business world and not the world of monsters like he was. In that sense, he could at least respect that about her, but it also reminded him of the corrupt politicians back in his world. He'd watch himself for now, but if she were to make a wrong move against his comrades… then she'd be his favorite prey.

"Welcome to Lastation's Basilicom. I am Kei Jinguji, the Oracle of this Nation." The girl introduced herself with a hand on her hip. She offered it for a handshake, and IF shook it reluctantly, Nepgear following suit until Vent did it last. While he and IF had their own reluctance with this, they would at least be civil with her… for now. "and I know you all have questions for me. Isn't that right, Compa and IF of Planeptune?" she spoke, then turned to him, "I also know of your male friend here, Vent the berseker."

While Vent was surprised that he had a nickname like that, since he never heard of it, the male did have to admit that it fit his battling style well. 'I do tend to… go a little crazy huh?' he mused to himself. **'Awww, but where's the fun in being NORMAL?!'** Rasen exclaimed within his mind, elongating the word normal like it was the most boring thing ever, **'being a bit craaaazy can make life a whole lot more interesting.'**

Compa blinked in confusion, momentarily taken aback by the amount of knowledge about them this woman possessed even though this was their first time meeting. "Huh…? How do you know us?" she asked the woman before them.

"If I were to guess," Vent began when he noticed IF about to retort in a fake polite tone, which she stared at him strangely for, "I'd say she has a vast information network. She likely knew about us since we first arrived in Lastation and figured out our purpose." He deduced with a detective-like posture. "Am I right to assume this is true, Mrs Jinguji?"

A small smirk formed on Kei's lips as he asked her that, as she gave him a stare that made him cautious inside. "You would be right, Mr Vent. Intelligence gathering is business economics 101. I gathered info on you since your arrival." She remarked. The girls looked at him to see his reaction, only to see that he only shrugged his shoulders.

Looking at them, Vent noticed their stares, and raised a brow. "She does have a point there, you know. I do tend to go… a little wild, sometimes." He told them, and they had to admit that this was the truth. He showed it in most of the battles he fought in.

"In any case, definitely earned that reputation." IF said with a smile, though one could tell that it was faker than a mime's acting.

If this went any further, they'd get off track, so Nepgear went and asked the Oracle what they came here for, "Um, we're looking for your Nation's mascot. Do you have any information on where it might be?"

The Oracle closed her eyes, and seemed to be considering her question. Everyone watched her, wondering what her response might be. Though, one of them already had a good idea based off what he'd seen and heard from her before. Soon, she opened her eyes and gave her answer to Nepgear's question, well, more like a question to a question really, "Whether I do or I don't is irrelevant. I'd first like to ask you how much my information would be worth to you."

After Nepgear rephrased 'its worth?' questioningly, Kei elaborated. "Of course. Properly exchanging information through an agreed-upon value system is the key to any business." Kei explained. She came off to them as cold and formal, and that threw Nepgear off. She hadn't expected such an Oracle to exist since Histoire was more of a mother to her than an Oracle, which left her under-prepared for a more formal, business setting.

Compa frowned as she tried to say with a smile and a straight face. "But we don't have a lot of credits…" it was true, with ASIC having most of the Guild under its control they managed to lower the rewards to the Guild Agents when quests are completed, unless it's for them.

Kei waved off those worries with the hand that was holding the data pad. "Money is not required. I'd exchange the information for a more… personal favor."

'Of course, equivalent exchange…' Vent thought, 'the process of giving something to someone in exchange for something of equal value.' Typical businesswoman ideology, and a complex one.

"What kind of personal favour?" IF asked the woman.

Said woman pressed her Datapad a few times, "Our Nation is developing a very special Item. All we need is some crucial materials." She then showed 2 images on her datapad to them. "Perhaps you've heard of these? We need one treasure Gem, and a good chunk of Hematite."

"What?!" IF exclaimed in shock, stepping back a single time as she showed how taken aback she was with the request, "you do realise how rare those are, don't you?" she cried in dismay. When Nepgear asked her how rare they were, the brunette replied with an astonished and irritated tone, "so rare you won't find them at any Vendor. There's info about where to find them either. This is an incredibly one-sided trade."

Kei closed her eyes and sighed in disappointment, and Vent figured what was coming. "How unfortunate. Then, I suppose our negotiation is at an end. Perhaps I misinterpreted my intel's value to you."

'Okay, she DEFINITELY has the manipulative side of a businesswoman there.' The male thought with a small sigh. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "Then, if we find them, you'll give us the intel, yeah? Consider it done."

It was then, that a glint appeared in Kei's eyes, a glint that Vent noticed but didn't comment on since she spoke first. "Well, one more thing, I'd like to know what transpired 3 years ago, and the recent rescue attempt." Now THIS surprised them all, even Vent was caught off guard by that one, 'whoa what the heck, how'd she-wait, her Network… huh, must be advanced if she could get that kind of intel.' He thought while Compa made his thoughts known through a surprised exclamation.

"Circumstantial evidence. Call it a hunch. Also, how could I be wrong with Nepgear standing before me now?" Kei responded, and when IF asked her how she knew about her, she ignored it and turned to Nepgear. "Well? Is Noire alright? Why is only Nepgear back?" there was a small sense of urgency that Vent detected, but didn't comment.

Before she could respond though, the brunette clamped a hand over her mouth, stopping Nepgear from speaking. "Clamp that mouth shut, Nepgear. Business is all about equivalent exchange, isn't that right? Isn't it hypocritical of you to overstep your "rules" of business you imposed on us?"

The Oracle blinked, realising her folly. "Huh. A Valid point. My apologies. Very well, then I would like to ask you to find those materials, first. After that, we can exchange all the information we possess. That is quite a bargain, you know." Things were settling down after that instance as Nepgear said they would be leaving now. The group left through the entrance. After the doors shut, the woman sighed in dismay… with herself this time. "My, my, how amateurish of me to allow my emotions to lead a business negotiation… please be safe, Noire…"


	16. Chapter 16 - Searching

**Chapter 16 - Searching**

Now that the visit with the Oracle was over, the party began discussing their next move… back in the dame park they had been in when they first decided to go to the Basilicom. Though, not all of them were happy about the situation, to be more specific the brown haired IF who was grinding one of her boot covered feet into the dirt to vent her frustration out, "That Oracle really knows how to grind my gears." She said with a groan, remembering the smugness that the Oracle showed when she had baited them into doing this. She then recalled something else that brightened her day immensely, nearly as much as seeing the CPUs again. "But I did have a pretty sweet comeback at the end, huh?" she ended with a haughty grin on her face, happy to have seen the Oracle brought down a peg or two.

"Well, I can see why someone like you wouldn't like someone like her, IF…" Vent remarked with a thoughtful expression. "Your someone who doesn't like to beat around the bush, but unfortunately that's how businesses are run, through indirect meanings and complexity. Makes you glad your occupation isn't like that as much, huh?" he mused at the end, getting a satisfied nod from her. She figured he would get it, heck he even figured out what she liked from that instance, which was a bonus in her book.

Compa added in a compliment of her own to further increase IF's mood as she knew she liked it, "you were a super cool cucumber, Iffy!" she praised, while Vent wondered about the compliment, wondering where the cucumber part fit in. Though in the end the male Hybrid attributed it to Compa being Compa, which he didn't mind at all.

Nepgear on the other hand, wanted to get the show on the road as she looked to IF with a questioning look, an index finger on her jaw, "Still, we need to find a Treasure Gem and Hematite. Any ideas on where to start looking, IF?"

Now she was reminded of their mission sent by that 'irritating' Oracle, in her mind anyways, IF regained her composure and adopted a thinking pose, rummaging through her mind's knowledge banks for any info that could help narrow their search. "If I knew that, then they wouldn't be as rare as they are." She remarked, stressing to them how much of a pain this task was going to be for them. She then blinked as a memory of an old rumour she once heard came to light that she decided to share with them all. "There was a rumour that some monsters collect rare gems…"

"That's not much, but with how these are so rare, then it's pretty much the best lead we've got…" Vent muttered, frowning. He didn't like how much information they had to go on, there were several monsters in Lastation that collected rare gems, but there wasn't anything specific about them being Treasure Gems. "I have a list we could use to find the right monster, but…"

"I know; it'll take a while since that list is pretty large. I saw you making it as we left the Basilicom."

Compa looked between the two. Their serious and grim facial expressions didn't sit right with her. So she made to interject them, "then… should we go and beat up every single monster we see on that list?"

IF thought about it for a moment, she didn't like how it sounded, but it wasn't like they had any other options, and this was the best one they had to find the Mascot of Lastation. "That sounds so savage, but it's the only choice we've got."

 **'** **Damn, such a buzzkill, isn't she master?'** Rasen commented, giggling his demented giggle in the recesses of Vent's mind. 'Well, we do want to save time to get back before ASIC find the Mascot, so I can agree with her…' the male countered, before adding at the end, 'but yes, she's a killjoy alright.' Much to the other voice's amusement.

With that, they all headed out on their search for the Treasure Gem, unaware of the carnage that was to come.

* * *

Up inside her room, within the Basilicom's residential quarters for the CPU and her sister, Uni was laying back first on her bed, looking up at the ceiling with the back of her hand over her forehead. Her mind was busy replaying what she had said to Nepgear over and over like a broken record. Each time, she would wince more and more about how she acted. "Ugh… I said some really nasty things to Nepgear, didn't I…? and she's been through so much, too…"

Her hand moved over her eyes as she replayed the conversation between her sister and herself before she left for the Gamindustri Graveyard. A wave of understanding and guilt crashed upon her shores, "I get it… I was told to stay behind because I wasn't strong enough to be of help to the others…"

She then rolled to the side, unable to stand looking upwards anymore as her eyes darkened, her sadness increasing as she continued her reflection of what had happened. "if I had gone, I would have made their jobs even harder, rather than easier…" the girl eventually gritted her teeth and, in a bout of frustration, sat up and fisted the mattress beside her, "But… But that's why I'm trying so hard to become way stronger!"

Images played of the first time she met Nepgear, but she wasn't just focusing on her, but also the male she was being helped by, "heck, even that guy she has on her side is strong, way stronger than me, and he doesn't even look it! Where had he been when my sister was captured along with the others? If he was there… then maybe…" More images played, imaged of Vent and her talking as he had taken her back to the Basilicom after using fear to force her to vent every emotion she had kept inside. "but still… he made me feel way better than I have felt for 3 years… not since when Noire was captured…"

Then, she realised just who it was she was thinking about, and quickly began to shake her head while trying to get rid of the images plaguing her mind, 'n-no, I'm so NOT thinking about a g-g-g-GUY! Noire would kill me if I did! Or maybe she'd try to kill the guy I was thinking about. Yeah, that sounds more like it… but still…'

Uni recalled something upon remembering Vent's face.

 ** _(FLASHBACK)_**

 ** _"Say... Can I ask you something? Uni asked as Vent neared the Basilicom entrance. The girl had mustered up enough of her courage throughout their journey here to ask him this question, remembering how powerful he had been during those battles. That power, it honestly baffled her, and something in her gut told her he wasn't going all out. Then there was those strange appendages he used. Someone lie him HAD to have done SOMETHING to get stronger, so she just had to know._**

 ** _Looking down at her, Vent raised a brow, trudging along the pavement. Part o him was glad that so few people were around to see this, they'd tell their friends and then all sorts of rumours would begin to fly. He was pretty sure that nobody wanted that, but nonetheless he decided to respond with a "Hm?" to her question._**

 ** _"How did you do it? How did you get that good? Nobody should be able to do what you can, you're just a human. So, how?"_**

 ** _His eyes widened in surprise as his jaw formed an 'O' shape. Was Uni asking what he thought she was? "You want to know why I'm strong? Why I'm able to fight alongside Nepgear and the others?" he asked her, getting a nod from the girl in his arms. So that's it, she wants to know the secret to is strength. Histoire told him that it would be best to keep the knowledge of his Kagune a secret, but he was still able to use it to help his comrades. Maybe he could tell her if she joined their Party but for the time being, perhaps it was time to impart some Tokyo Ghoul wisdom onto her. "Well... there was this saying that I learned of, and it put things into perspective for me."_**

 ** _Uni would have said something about what a saying had to do with this, but kept her mouth shut. She remembered how those Tentacles had almost torn her limbs off with how tight they had restrained them._**

 ** _"It was that "All the weakness in the world was due to a lack of ability." It basically means that one has to be strong in order to be able to accomplish anything. The strong devour the weak, its a part of nature. A predator such as a fox, can devour helpless rabbits because of nature's design. It was made that way. Human beings are similar, those that are stronger than their peers are both feared and respected, thus the weaker ones flock to the stronger ones. A preservation instinct, cause they know that if they stood against the strong one, they would lose."_**

 ** _"So... strength is important... Well, I know that, its why I'm training to begin with!" Uni stated hotly. "That can't be all there is to it."_**

 ** _Vent rolled his eyes at her response. She didn't get it, so he decided to elaborate. "That's the thing, there are those who have innate talent within them and do not have to work at it, there are those who have to work for the strength that they gain, and there are those who are in-between. You, Uni of Lastation, are in that category. You have talent for guns, but you have trouble strengthening that talent. There's few out there who can match you with a Gun in your hands, so take pride in how far you've come. I may not know you well, but I can tell you have the drive to grow stronger, never lose that, you hear. And also, about your sister… think of the good that came with you staying here, because of you and whoever is standing in for your sister, Lastation isn't as affected as the other nations. You did well Uni, I'm sure your sister would say the same."_**

 ** _Awe, that was what coursed through Uni as she stared up at him, her eyes filled wit it like two large pools. Just seeing the way he looked down at her smiling in a comforting manner while complimenting her skill, something not even her sister had done, had a massive effect on the young girl. She could hardly recall any time that her sister did the same thing for her, thus she tried to get that approval out of her before she had left for the Gamindustri Graveyard._**

 ** _Yet, this stranger managed to see that Skill, and saw fit to compliment her on it._**

 ** _For some reason she felt better about herself than she had been for a long time._**

 ** _(FLASHBACK: END!)_**

When she recalled what he had said to her, the girl felt a blush form over her face, electing a squeak as she buried her head into her pillow. "Stupid, stupid, stupid idiot! Saying things like that whenever he pleases then just leaves… at least I punched him with that threat though, that felt good." She had to chuckle at that particular memory, but it was still one that had the male in it.

She then felt frustration rise within her though, frustration mixing in with embarrassment at the flattering compliments he had given her as well as the frustration of not knowing what to do next. She still wasn't sure about going along with Nepgear's proposal of them working together to save their sisters, since she wasn't sure about the strength difference between them. Her frustrated face melted away soon after she thought that though, becoming depressed just like before. "What'll I do if I run into Nepgear… and Vent again…?" she mumbled, hoping the answer would come soon.

* * *

The group traversed the Dungeons on the list that Vent had created, taking out the monsters that supposedly carried rare gems. They didn't have that much luck however, as none of them had the gem that they needed: The Treasure Gem. Progress wasn't good… it was more like absolute crap, not that anyone would say it out loud since it would drop morale faster than Nepgear would drop everything to look at the newest gadgets.

Everyone now had to admit that IF was indeed correct when she said how rare this Gem was, it usually took a couple dungeon crawls to find a specific item for average adventurers, but so far nothing like the item they needed had shown up ever. Some of them got a little peeved at Kei for giving them this draining task, but didn't vocalise their feelings on the matter in favour of getting the task done.

Eventually, their attempts led them to a Dungeon known as 'Endless Zone' that, according to IF, was the last Dungeon that they ventured in. The Dungeon itself looked… different, compared to the ones that they visited previously, they were on one big platform made out of 2 connected by a thin bridge, with a mechanical theme going around the Dungeon. There were all sorts of monsters prowling around, most of them machine types, but with a few beast-types as well.

"Well, here's to hoping." Vent mused with a tired sigh, activating Vier's Scythe Mode. He held it on his shoulder while the others took out their weapons in preparation for the upcoming fights. 'If this doesn't work, we may have to call the mission a complete bust… or take a short rest at the Hotel then focus on the Hematite instead.'

Compa noticed the sullen mood of the male and made to cheer him up, "keep that chin up, Ven-Ven, we'll find it just in a jiffy, you'll see." She spoke with her ever-optimistic attitude while holding her Syringe.

The male looked at her and felt a small smile coming on. Seriously, how can people be miserable with this walking ball of innocence and optimism? "I'll try Compa, just wanna get this done so we can move to the more common Hematite." He explained with fatigue.

Having heard their conversation, IF stepped up to them, "you and me both, remember who it was that agreed that we'd do this?" the male sweat dropped as he rubbed the back of his head, remembering EXACTLY who it was. "You ain't got a right to complain, so man up." She told him, huffing as she turned on her heels, her Qatars at the ready. "Let's do this, ladies... and Vent!"

"Right…!"

* * *

The party travelled through the Dungeon, and when they were at halfway, they decided to take a break after fighting so many 'Bits' 'Delinquent Cats', 'Bomb-oumarais' and a couple 'Fenrisulfr's'. They were a little exhausted, and low on morale 'This is getting ridiculous….' Vent thought to himself as irritation swept through his being.

"Nothing at all…" Compa mumbled, falling onto her backside from standing so much, having dropped her Syringe to the side of her. Luckily, there weren't any monsters around to hear it as they had taken most of them out by now.

IF rolled her eyes at the girl, as compared to her she was still standing. Although she still looked slightly exhausted with the sweat rolling down her forehead, "C'mon now. If they were this easy to find, then the Oracle would have had them by now." She said, making a valid point. Kei knew how to find and use resources to their fullest, the proof being her being the Oracle of a highly formal Nation.

"Yeah, but this is just getting annoying…" the male entered his opinion into the conversation, "I mean, I'm aware I'm the one who started this, but I didn't expect it to be this troublesome. I can see why that pineapple haired dude in that hidden village always lazed about, finding things 'troublesome'."

While IF and Compa sweat dropped at the reference, Nepgear hummed to herself with her thinking posture. "I guess running around with no direction will get us nowhere fast…" she muttered under her breath. She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice the look Vent gave her.

"Uhhh... Nepgear, we did have a direction, my list remember-"

"Why all the glum faces?"

Before he could finish his question, his along with everyone else's ears perked when they heard an unfamiliar female voice. Instincts kicked in for the male as he spun around with Vier in Gun mode, aiming at the newcomer with hostility, "okay, who are you and why are you here?" he asked coldly.

The person was a fair-skinned girl with orange eyes and short boyish cut, rusty brown red hair usually worn with a headband. She wore a white tank top with a brown belt-like segment on the top and bottom, underneath a blue and white jacket with gold accents. Her skirt is white with thick strips of blue in the centre and worn with a brown belt with gold details and a small orange and black pouch attached.

Also included are black fingerless gloves, black stockings, and blue boots with white, black, and gold accents. Quickly, she rose her hands in a peaceful manner, "whoa, no need to shoot. I'm Falcom, just your average, everyday adventurer, as you can see." She hastily explained, gulping at the sight of Vier's Gun barrel. Its glowing interior giving it an intimidating appearance.

With an irritated sigh, IF walked up and placed her palm over his weapon, "no need to go all trigger happy, Vent, if she were here to harm us she would have done so." She said to him. It took a moment, but eventually the male reined in his instincts as he lowered his weapon, **'Awww, I wanted to watch a blood fest!'** he whined like a child.

"Sorry… with all these failure's, its increasingly difficult to rein in my instincts." He apologised, returning Vier to Standby mode as he bowed his head towards Falcom, who looked relieved now that she wasn't held at Gunpoint, evident by the deep exhale she had. She then chuckled sheepishly, "and also, I have this nasty habit of meddling in the affairs of troubled folks like you."

'I think there's a word for that kind of person…. Meh, I'll go with goody-two-shoes till I think of the right word…' Vent thought to himself with Rasen agreeing. Unaware of his thoughts, Compa beamed in awe as she stared at Falcom like she was an ancient Goddess, "wow, an adventurer! Iffy, maybe she knows something! Can't hurt to ask, right?"

While she was a little reluctant, IF saw no other way around their situation, and she felt like Vent did at the moment. "I guess so…" she conceded, "We're fresh out of alternatives." It was painful knowing about their situation, but it was even more painful admitting it. Even with their male party member's help they didn't have much progress.

Now that they were asking for info, Nepgear took the reins, "Um, we're looking for two Gems—Hematite, and a Treasure Gem—but we have no idea where to look anymore…" she trailed off, remembering all the Dungeons they had searched.

Falcom thought for a moment, scratching the top of her head as she tried to recall if she'd heard those names before. "Treasure Gem and Hematite, huh? Never heard of Hematite, but I do know that the Treasure Gem isn't around here. I think I heard more about the one in Planeptune. Was it Virtua Forest? A Gem-collecting monster, maybe…?"

"Oh come, on, really?!"

"Are you serious?!"

Both IF and Vent exclaimed those at the same time. They didn't think to look for the items in other nations, but to hear that a monster collected Gems in one of the first Dunegons they visited on their Adventure was a surprise to them. Why hadn't they encountered it before?

"I'd take you if I could, but I'm already in the middle of some other errands. Sorry about that." The girl said while having a nervous and guilty smile on her face as she gestured to the Dungeon around her. She must be on some Quests to do with this Dungeon or something, that was the only explanation.

Nepgear hurriedly made to correct her however, "Oh, it's alright! That information was plenty! Thank you so much." She thanked with a bow. Falcom turned to the deeper depths of the Dungeon with a smirk on her face, her eyes filled with joy, "Cool. Your eyes are filled with life again, so my work here is done. Perhaps we'll meet again. Good luck!" and with that, the girl left to go do her errands, leaving the Party to head out to Planeptune after a short conversation about the credibility of the intel they gained.

What they didn't know was that they had a stalker, watching them from behind a railing. Underling glared at them for a moment, before smirking darkly, "Uh Huh… going back to Planeptune are they? Heh. Heh, Heh… Just you wait. Our super-secret Anti-CPU weapon will blast you all to dust."

* * *

There were… complications when they decided to go to Planeptune. First off, ty had to return to Lastation, which wasn't bad until they had to stop ASIC Fanatics trying to take over the stations they were using to transport people between nations. They appeared to be learning from their past mistakes and targeting the stations rather than the trains themselves.

Their second obstacle came after stopping the Fanatics, workers reported that a Monster had been destroying the tracks between them and Planeptune. It was named a 'Phoenix Gearfried' and was one of the newer monsters that Gamindustri scholars knew nothing about. The party had to go and deal with it, which involved a long-ass fight in which Vent had to unleash his Kagune on its bitch ass. And even then, it took about 3 hours to defeat it. Worse still, the tracks needed a day to be fixed, so they had to wait for that.

By the time they had reached Planeptune, the Party was eager and antsy to get to Virtua Forest as soon as possible. Unfortunately, a larger-than-normal 'Exiled Force' had managed to invade the City and cause mass panic, so they had to waste even MORE time to deal with them. Afterwards, they wasted no more time and hightailed it to Virtua forest as fast as possible, making it there in half the time they usually would.

"Whew… we made it, at last…" Vent whispered while panting under his breath, he was bent over, placing his arms on his kneecaps for support while his body got rid of the lactic acid in its system. He looked up while taking one hand from its place supporting his upper body and wiped the sweat off his brow. "I can't help but feel that luck was NOT on our side these last few days."

IF frowned as she too regained her breathing. They were at the front of the depths of Virtua Forest, having looked through the outer part of it on their way here in case it was there instead. The investigation concluded that it wasn't though, which had meant more running for them. "I can't help but agree with you there, and seeing as ASIC was likely responsible for making those monsters, it makes this look kind of suspicious…"

"You and me both, sister. You and me both."

"Well, we're here now so hurray!"

Compa beamed cheerily, throwing her arms up into the skies above as she giggled happily. She too was annoyed at their setbacks, but at least they were here now, and that was what matters.

Nepgear looked into the depths of the forest, trying to see if there was anything there, before she thought of something else and glanced to the rest of the party, sharing her thoughts with them. "I get the feeling that we may have more in the future, guys."

"…Nepgear, you just jinxed us, didn't you?"

"Easy Vent, we'll deal with that shit when it comes, right now however let's see if this thing is real, first." IF spoke, distracting the male from his annoyance with Nepgear jinxing them. Now that she had said that they were likely going to get even more setbacks in the future, which'll be annoying. She then started to head inside, keeping her wits about her just in case. She knew better than to doubt jinxes plus Vent's instincts were usually spot on. That was how she had survived a sneak attack by that Gearfried in Lastation. Soon enough, the rest of the group followed her, not wanting to be left out of the action.

The party advanced deeper into the dungeon, looking around for any sign of the monster they were looking for. Vent glanced at the others who were all looking around for any signs of the monster, and decided that no conversation would be started and instead focused on finding their target.

 **'** **Uh, Master, you may want to know I know where the monster is.'** That was when the voice of Rasen rang through his mind, cutting him off from his observing of the surroundings. He almost fell over from the sudden intrusion, his heart nearly jumping out his chest at the surprising interjection. **'Whoaaaa, steady neady.'**

'What do you expect, that was a sudden interjection you just did!' Vent retorted, before he gave a mental groan as he calmed himself down. It wouldn't be goof to show his inner rage on his face and needlessly worry his comrades. Once he was calmed down enough to start a conversation, Vent asked his tenant impatiently, 'Care to elaborate on your statement?'

A happy giggle came from the demented voice in his head, **'Why of course, darling!'** he spoke in his best ever feminine voice, which really was just a high pitch that grated on Vent's ears... or skull, depending on the perspective. **'I simply took over and used your senses of hearing and smell. I have the exact location down pat, so let's ditch these suckers and go after it now!'**

'Okay, one: don't take over my senses like that again. Two: don't you EVER do that to my senses without my permission again. Three: we are NOT ditching them, they're our comrades.' Vent mentally snarled. He had gotten a lot better with his chats with his mental tenants, to the point where he could make mental facial expressions like snorting or scoffing.

 **'** **Fine, fine… #grumble# spoilsport.'**

'Did you say something just now?'

 **'** **Nope!'**

While still suspicious about Rasen, Vent nonetheless chose to let it go for now and shut the link. He stepped forwards, sniffing the air and quickly caught a scent that he didn't feel was here before. "Hey uh, I have a scent, it's not one we have associated with Virtua Forest – Depths, before." He informed them.

"Eh? Alrightie, lead the way then, Ven-Ven!" Compa cheered as the male nodded and went on ahead. Compa soon was following suit as the male narrowed down the location of the monster.

Nepgear tilted her head, "You think the Mascot has something to do with this? This place right be that monster's original nest but when the Mascot cake it was forced out. The energy in the air did seem to repel the monsters." She wondered, curious. It did seem like an interesting theory, but she wouldn't get that solid an answer unless she asked the Mascots themselves.

IF deployed her Qatars as she went forwards to follow them, her brow twitching as she spoke, "we can figure that out some other time, if this thing really exists then we should be one step closer to filling this one-sided deal." It seemed that she was still irritated that Kei had told them to go on this ridiculous fetch quest in the first place, and with the trouble they went through it only heightened these feelings. "Let's move!"

* * *

Travelling through the dungeon this time was much different than the others. The reason for that was that they didn't encounter any monsters, both the normal and the abnormal kinds made by ASIC. Vent heard of Nepgear's theory about the mascot, and found that it would actually explain a few things he'd observed, like how the monsters that they did see didn't seem as… aggressive, as they were earlier. None of them seemed to be going viral as much as they did before when they were tracking the Mascot of Planeptune through this Dungeon.

Also, the energy the Mascot radiated, it did seem to have the effect of keeping monsters away from its resting place. With the way this scent was leading them, or to be more specific Vent, then it was possible that the gem-collecting monster's habitat became the Mascot's resting place preventing it from getting there.

These thoughts soon halted when they were at the source of the Scent, the same area that the Planeptune Mascot once resided in. Vet frowned as bad memories of their last time here came to his mind, when he barely saw what happened to IF and Compa, curtesy of Tatara.

Fortunately, he didn't have to think about it too much, the reason? "What about mister scary dragon monster over there?" that was asked by Compa, and it was the reason Vent didn't have much thinking time. The party saw a dragon-like creature slumbering, resting by curling into a ball. The dragon was as tall as a single story building with multiple shades of brown for the skin and undersides, black for the horns, and since its eyes were closed he couldn't see the colour of those. Also, they could tell it was sleeping because of the bubble under its nostrils constantly expanding and retracting with its breathing.

IF grinned a battle-ready grin, her Qatars gleaming menacingly in the small rays of sunlight that passed through the forest trees. "I get the feeling that's our target." She informed them, looking for confirmation from Vent who nodded in affirmative. He had already switched Vier into Scythe Mode for this battle. With that done, IF looked towards the others, "let's attack while we still have the initiative."

"Right!" yelled Nepgear. The first strike went to IF, who unleashed a DEMON FLAMES Skill. The pillar erupted around the beast's head, startling it awake as it roared in pain from the attack, as well as anger that someone had dared disturb its sleep. It then glared at the group, its claws twitching through the pain on its face, which was covered in burn marks as it sent a stream of fire their way.

In response, the Party scattered, landing in different positions as they rushed towards the monster. Vent distracted it by throwing Vier like it was a wheel, the weapon embedding itself into its right shoulder. The Monster, which had the nametag of 'Ancient Dragon' growled as it stomped on the ground, creating a mini earthquake to try and throw him off balance. The male just used this to flip forwards, slamming his hand into the ground so that he was in a handstand position, then thrusted himself up into the air, spinning through it like a sausage before bringing the back of his heel down on the Dragon's injured Shoulder, causing it to howl with pain.

Before it could deal with him, Compa distracted it with blasts from her Syringe. "Get soooooome!" she cried out like a certain blonde haired vampire police girl. She then shifted her stance to one where she was kneeling with her Syringe at her hips. "Trump this!" a ball of pink energy formed from the tip of her Syringe, and when it was charged up, Compa let loose a long energy beam that hit the creature dead in the chest, causing it to stumble.

Nepgear went for the legs while her male companion switched Vier to Gun mode and blasted himself away, landing far enough to provide fire support. She activated her skill Mirage Dance and did damage to its legs, leaving its mobility weakened. She then jumped back to avoid a claw stab from the creature, before jumping forwards and cutting off one of its horns, landing behind in in a crouching position. "We give each other courage!"

'That line was so corny, but I don't care…' Vent thought, switching Vier to Sword Mode as he charged in with IF following suit. The male glanced at her for an instant, and she did the same. They had a mental conversation with their eyes for a second, before they nodded, resolutely. Vent went first, jumping at its face while cutting several times. When he noticed it about to breathe fire, Vent slammed his weapon into the top of the beast's nostril, using the impact and momentum to flip his body over and landed on top of its head.

While it was distracted trying to pry him off, IF slid underneath its legs, slicing at the bac of its feet while she did so, before getting up and slashing at the base of its tail, which was softer thanks to it not having has hard a hide as the outside parts of its body. She then jumped onto its Tail, which wasn't easy considering how it thrashed in response to the Ancient Dragon's anger, and jumped at one of its wings. She grinned as she reared both her Qatars back for a spinning slash, 'I'm so gonna enjoy this.' She thought, spinning her body around like a Beyblade and slashing through the webbing of its right wing.

The beast roared in complete agony as it stumbled back, its wing badly damaged and wouldn't be usable for a long time. It sent another firestream at them while it tried to escape, however Vent wouldn't let it. He narrowed his eyes, activating his Kakugan as his Ukaku sprung out of his body, swiftly launching a shower of crimson Shards at the creature's limbs. The heavy shower was enough to send it to the ground, stopping any and all escape attempts while the male landed and retracted his Kagune, eye returning to normal as he turned to their leader, "Nepgear, now!"

"Right! SLASH WAVE!" With the opening presented to her, Nepgear ran till she was in front of the creature's head about 8 foot away, before she unleashed her SLASH WAVE skill, doing lots of damage to the weakened Monster. Her attack left it terribly weakened, only a few more strikes would finish it off, so she decided to end it herself. "This is the end for you. MIRAGE DANCE!" she charged in, quickly delivering the strikes that were part of her skill. When the last slash was delivered and the energy explosion occurred, the creature gave one last dying shriek, before it stopped moving to signal its death. Its form vanished into Particles afterwards, which prompted cheers from the party.

"Yes! We got it!" IF grinned as she clenched her fist in victory as the party regrouped in front of the space where the defeated monster once lay. Her eyes then caught sight of a ruby coloured Gem in the middle of that space, and with curiosity she walked over to see what it was. When she grabbed it and brought it to her eye level, she grinned even more when she saw that it was indeed what they were looking for. She could tell because it had a Nametag appear above it saying 'Treasure Gem'.

She soon walked back to the others while holding it in her hand. "Looks like we got what we came here for." She said with a beaming smile, showing them the prize they had went through so much trouble to gain. Their journey had been long and hard, but it was so goddamn worth it!

Compa blinked for a moment in surprise as the party stared at the item, "So this is a Treasure Gem?" she wondered, before she too cheered while throwing her arms into the air. "Yippee! We finally got a Gem thingy!"

"I honestly have to agree with you there, Compa." Vent said, nodding his head in agreement, a grin just as wide as IF's on his face now that they had found the damn object. "Now we're one step closer to finding the Mascot."

Nepgear did the same action that Vent had done to Compa, but to the rest of the party as she brought up the Quest on her N-Gear, showing that one condition for getting the info on the Mascot was shaded with a Tick next to it. "All that's left is the Hematite. We better find it as soon as we can…" she told them, much to the Party's agreement. With the way things were going, they felt that things were finally looking up for them.

"I'm afraid you'll never find it! You broads and brute aren't going nowhere!" Only to feel their happiness shatter like glass once they heard that familiar annoying voice call out to them. All of them groaned as they turned to the way they came in to the area, to find Underling standing there with a grin on her face, arrogant as usual. IF gave a groan while rolling her eyes at the repetitiveness of the scene, "Ugh. This one again. Your persistent for a bottom-tier peon, Underling."

"I feel sorry for you to have to come and lose to us so many times, Miss Underling." Compa added on, her innocent tone making her words have greater effect. 'Shit, girl is as vicious as I remember!' Vent thought, hiding his smirk behind his hand over his mouth. 'Well, not like I care about this cannon fodder, but I'll stay quiet for now.'

Nepgear, unknowingly and perhaps unintentionally (?) chose to add to the sassiness in the air, "No matter the market, Underlings have to handle all the hands-on grunt work, don't they?" she spoke, rhetorically with a slight pitying gaze towards the now fuming Underling, who looked ready to explode.

"Ugh! Shut the hell up1 I'm SO sorry for being who I am!" she shouted, pointing her Pipe at them while her arm shook with the rage she was feeling. The sarcasm in her tone was real though, Vent noticed, and he didn't doubt the others didn't either. It was as clear as crystal. She then took a calming breath, though she still looked peeved as she smirked arrogantly at them, "Hmph. Not like it matters. After today, those Gums will never be able to flap again. Come out, secret weapon!" she yelled behind her shoulder, and from the sides of the bridge connecting the two futuristic platforms, several machine monsters came up to face them.

IF rolled her eyes at the cliché tactic. "Finally learned that Underlings like you need to come at us in droves, huh?" she remarked with her usual snarky demeanour.

Looking over them all, Nepgear nearly wanted to disassemble the monsters to find out how they worked with her machine nut instincts acting up, but she controlled herself by reasoning that they were enemies. "We can't afford to waste any time. I'll activate HDD and finish them in one fell swoop!" she told them. That was when it happened.


	17. Chapter 17 - Quadra type, baby!

**Chapter 17 - Quadra type, baby!**

The robots began to generate a red aura, reminiscent of the OVERDRIVE Skill that Vent used, and released a pulse. It spread through the entire Dungeon, and while it didn't affect the humans and the Half Ghoul of the group, it did do something to Nepgear.

"Wh-what the goodness? What's going on?!" she exclaimed, she felt something… off when the pulse touched her, like a sudden weight had fell onto her shoulders. She felt her body become more sluggish, rigid and less flexible for some reason even though she was in full health.

Obviously her state didn't go unnoticed as well as her outcry, as her companions all looked at her in concern. "Ge-Ge, is something the matter?" Compa questioned after blinking a few times from the pulse. She didn't feel much from that attack, so what was the problem?

Nepgear closed her eyes and concentrated, but when she tried to reach for her Share energy to access HDD, she felt something repel her concentration, knocking her into reality again. "I… can't activate HDD… why?" she mumbled, shocked, and the group soon mirrored it.

'What?! Holy shit, does that mean…?' Vent's eyes widened in horror when he realised what that pulse was. White hot rage coursed through him as he clenched his fists so hard that they almost turned white. He then turned his attention to the snickering Underling and growled, his Kakugan moments away from activating, "you didn't…"

"Yes, yes I did. I came prepared, idiot. These monsters carry the ability to seal your ability to transform. Let's see you fight now." She remarked, before a figurative light bulb switched on in her mind which generated an idea, that would make things even tougher on them. "And to make it more interesting…" Underling reached into her outfit and pulled out a crimson Disk, throwing it to the ground.

The moment the ground touched it, the Disk glowed brightly, forcing them to cover their eyes. When it died down a humanoid monster appeared in its place. It stood at 8 feet tall, wearing what looked like a mix of armour and leather on its body. It had a red chest plate with silver rims, matching the Pauldrons. There was a red skirt around its waist, splitting into 3 for mobility. It ended in silver feathers matching a bird's. its legs were mechanical, ending in Genie style boots with varying colours of red and orange. Its head was shaped like a frozen red flame, with a pair of silver lenses and a jewel at the centre of its head, an orange faceplate covering where the other facial features would be. Strapped to its waist was a sheath. An Arabian style sword was held in its right hand that was enveloped with reddish orange flames.

It had the nametag, 'Evocator Chevalier' over it, and it looked pissed.

Underling laughed mockingly, knowing that the Party would be screwed right now. A part of her knew that Vent still had his Ghoul side, but that was what the abnormal monster was meant for, to keep him occupied while the other monsters took care of the broads.

Vent paled, this wasn't good, usually Nepgear had access to HDD when fighting these kinds of monsters, because they were much tougher than the normal ones. But with that card no longer in play, they had a lot less chance to win. "Oh shit, this looks bad. IF, get the others and get them out of here. I'll hold it off for you till Nepgear can transform." He told the others.

IF, however immediately denied this, "what, no way, we're not leaving you behind!" she protested, not liking the idea of leaving a friend behind. Yes, she could admit that she had a guy friend, who knew?

The male growled to himself, there wasn't any time for an argument! These guys could attack at any moment and here she was hesitating? "We don't have other options, IF, and you know it! Nepgear's HDD has been locked out, we have an Abnormal Monster here and we're not exactly at our best right now with us having used some of our strength on that Ancient Dragon! Plus, I still have my Kagune, remember? It wasn't locked away, so I'll be fine!" he hammered points home that the brunette couldn't deny. In his mind, if anyone of them were to meet their end he would rather it be him. After all, he was just an outsider meddling in their business, it wasn't like he belonged in this world.

Even though he…

"Grrr…" IF growled, as she tried to form a way to convince him not to do this suicide mission, but her mind drew a blank unfortunately. She didn't want to admit it, but Vent was right. This was a terrible situation they were in, and the only way out was for someone to act as bait while the others escaped long enough for the pulse's effects to wear off and Nepgear could transform again.

Underling heard their comments though, and interjected, "whoa-whoa-whoa, who said you had a say in this you bastard?!" she yelled as she pointed towards him. Not seconds later, they all saw the Abnormal monster cry out, blasting forwards and converting its body into a stream of flames. Vent had little time to react to this, not even enough to curse the situation he was in as the stream engulfed him in one go, before spiralling upwards and flying off somewhere.

"E-Eh?!" Compa screamed in shock, which was reflected by the entire party as they witnessed their male companion be carried off by the Abnormal monster. "What just happened? It was so fast I couldn't quite catch it all."

Nepgear and IF were just as awestruck as their friend was, as well as were unable to catch everything that happened. However, they did catch enough to know what w the gist of it was. "That Abnormal… it just kidnapped Vent from the battle!" the brunette exclaimed, paling faster than a cheetah.

More mocking laughter came from the ASIC worker as she leaned against the platform, truly she was enjoying their expressions right now. No point in having to fight even! "Heh-heh. Ha... like I said I came prepped, ya dumb broads. I knew you'd try to rely on that guy, he's like ya other backbone. So remove the backbone, and you all become worthless." She sneered, lazily playing with her pipe. A memory of her boss Lord Tatara played in her mind, and all her laziness was washed away, "oh shit, that's right the boss told me not to play around. Anyways, sick em, boys!"

After Underling said that, IF, Compa and Nepgear watched as the robot monsters began charging their lasers, priming them for combat. The brunette sweat dropped as she realised that maybe they were in a bit of a bind. Though she soon rectified that statement with it being an understatement of the century. "This could be bad." She said, a trail of sweat rolling down the side of her face. "Compa, let's get outta here, we'll come back for Vent once we have Nepgear transformed." She commanded, to which Compa nodded her head in agreement.

"You Betcha!"

"Hold it right there!"

A figure suddenly jumped out from behind a series of branches, branches that could be used as a hiding place to survey surrounding areas. In essence, it was like a sniper's nest. The figure swan dived towards the ground and slammed into it, causing a small explosion and a smokescreen.

As the smoke began to clear, both the party and Underling looked into the smoke, trying to disconcert who this new arrival was. "Huh? Who the hell are you?" the green haired villain exclaimed in confusion. Though a part of her was frustrated as well, 'damnit, another unknown factor that could ruin everything!' she thought to herself, knowing that with her villain luck, which was crap by the way, this arrival would likely stop her in her tracks.

The smoke faded, and when they saw who had interrupted them… they all did a double take. It was a girl, and a fairly young one at that, although her chest seemed to… be a contradiction. She had a pale yet fair skin tone, with long crimson hair worn with many bangs framing her face, her hair shaped into the shape of an R on the left side of her head, held with a black rope with two big tan beads. She has white coloured stripes in her hair, one on the lower half of one of the R-folds, the other covering almost the whole bang on the right side of her face. Her eyebrows were the same shade of red, while she sported grey eyes.

Her attire consisted of a set of Chinese clothes with black and red colours. The top was dark grey and black with golden lining and ruffles with small red X-shaped strings under her breast and a belt-like piece. At her chest was an opal blue Magatama. She had unattached sleeves with small pink cherry blossom and petal patterns around the bottom, with golden lining and black at the bottom. At the top, just below her shoulders were black ruffles. Her skirt consisted of four big petal shapes resembling her sleeves, with a pair of shorts underneath. On her feet were similar black and red shoes. Around her body, was a golden dragon coiling around her upper half and appeared to be resting.

She pointed at Underling from in front of the robot monsters, glaring angrily but with her child-like figure it made her seem cuter, "how dare you treat such cute girls this way!" she bellowed, causing a mass amount of confusion from the girls, while Underling wondered if this girl had something wrong with her. "I've been eyeing them all as potential wifeys, so any funnier moves and you'll face the wrath of RED!" the girl, apparently her name was RED, proclaimed with her hands on her hips, eyes closed, head raised high with a beaming smile on her lips.

…

…

…

What the fuck? That was the best way that Underling could sum up her feelings right now as she regarded the new broad before her. Just…. Huh? What the heck was this brat on about? She couldn't even speak her usual taunts because of the randomness this girl generated. What the hell did she do, was she on drugs or something?

Meanwhile, the other girls were just as befuddled by the claims of this girl as he was. IF opened her mouth to try and say something, but nothing but air and tiny droplets of water came out in the form of her breath, so she closed it. Compa tilted her head to the side, her face looked so confused that it looked like she was about to faint from it all, even though that would probably be a bad idea. And Nepgear looked like she was trying to grasp the mind of the person before them, only to come up short each time. If their male companion here he'd have made some 'what the fuck' comment.

Eventually, it was Underling who broke the tense, awkward atmosphere that RED had created with her proclamations, "what in the most unholy hell is this chick trying to say? Is she missing some screws?" she asked, almost like she was reluctant to have that question answered for the sake of her sanity. She mentally cursed her villain luck again, just when she was about to get some payback, a dumb broad, and she was saying this in the most demeaning manner possible in her head, came a ruined it.

It was made worse when the crimson haired girl ignored Underling's question, making her develop a tick mark as she turned to Nepgear and gave her a thumbs up, along with a wink, "for my goddess, my CPU, my wifey! I'm going to save you!" she proclaimed again, which sort of sounded… a little bit creepy with the weirdness of her monologue.

That creepiness, along with the suddenness of the situation, proved to be too much of a burden for Nepgear to handle calmly, especially with words like 'Wifey' circling around her innocent mind, "Huh? W-Wait what? Where, when… why?!" she exclaimed, her mind going at 100 miles an hour, maybe more in order to try and make sense of the situation she was in. Though it failed every time, which only heightened her puzzlement.

RED then added to the Candidate's whirlpool of emotions by jumping onto her and glomping the girl, pulling her into an embrace with their faces very close together. The poor girl became a stuttering mess, with her face redder than RED's hair. Said girl gave a cute giggle of amusement at Nepgear's facial expressions as she spoke in a seductive yet childish tone, "save the questions for the honeymoon, my lovely. We can go over everything after we deal with this!"

This girl gave the words 'innocent seduction' a whole new meaning, especially with how Nepgear was faring right now. She was so red with the thoughts stemming from 'my lovely' and 'honeymoon' flooding her mind. She had been so mind-boggled that she didn't notice RED hop away from her and spin around, drawing what looked like a red coloured Frisbee as she threw it at one of the Machine monsters which had the nametag 'M-3 Custom' over their mechanical heads. They had the shape of ice cream cones with a lid for a head, a single red lens, and several laser cannons floating behind them arranged like wheels.

When the Frisbee hit the one on the left, the other M-3 Customs took this as a sign of readiness for battle and readied their laser cannons. IF shook her head when she realised what was going on, "ugh, we'll deal with this girl later, but for now we should focus on the enemy!" she called out, snapping the others out of their trances. Nepgear nodded, pushing her embarrassment from earlier in favour of determination. "Right! I'll do my best!"

And with that, their battle begun. Nepgear started off by running to the one RED had dazed with her Frisbee while the said girl ran beside her, giggling all the while. She made several slashes to it, but it used its laser canons to block them. This surprised Nepgear, but infuriated RED, who proceeded to summon a pair of Yoyos to fling repeatedly at the M-3 Custom, which got knocked back by the attack.

The two other M-3 Custom's quickly rushed to aid their comrade, only to be attacked by IF who appeared within their defences swinging her Qatars in deadly arcs to damage one. While it was being beset, the third one retreated back and aimed its Laser Cannons, preparing to fire at them from a distance.

However, Compa wouldn't allow that as she kneeled to get a better stance before firing energy attacks at its Canons, damaging them slightly when the rounds made contact. "I'm not letting you hurt my friends!" she called out seriously, keeping the barrage up while IF slashed her opponent and Nepgear combined with RED took on the third one.

A few seconds passed before the M-3 Customs retreated away from them, blasting wildly to keep them at a distance. They then began to glow with a strange purplish energy, one that the girls all recognised as them about to go Viral together. "Oh shit, DEMON FLAMES!" IF cried as she activated her Skill while they were all huddled together, engulfing them in it. The creatures had transformed fully before the effects of the skill kicked in, but thanks to them having mechanical bodies despite their darker colouring, it was still able to do moderate damage to them… And also piss them off.

All three of the girls, minus RED, sweated when they saw their lenses glowing with fury as they each unloaded a barrage of purple energy beams at them from their enhanced laser cannons. RED however, lacked any fear as she bounded up to them, "never fear, RED is here! Get behind me my wifeys! I'll protect us all!" she proclaimed, before summoning… a huge Manga book that rivalled a dictionary regarding its thickness. It was as tall as an average person too, much to their confusion.

Nevertheless, the barrage coming their way reminded them that they now had cover to get behind, so they all bolted for the space behind RED, energy beams racing past them. Some of them nearly singed Compa's hair, much to her dismay as she took nearly an hour to get the hair just right for her. Girls LOVED their hair, she should know, she was one!

"Looks like we're pinned down here…" IF remarked, grimacing as she tried to peer out towards the enemy, only to squeak as she nearly got her face blasted off by a stray laser beam. Fortunately, she had ducked her head behind Red's 'cover' just in time. 'Why do I feel that last piece of monologue could be considered a bad joke…?' she wondered, before shaking her head to focus on the task at hand. "I'm in favour of not getting blasted to bits, so… I'm open to suggestions here."

RED looked behind her at the girls, her ever present smile at full power as she beamed happily, "let me do it, I'll knock those meanies good with my Frisbee, then my Wifeys can finish them off without delay!" she suggested in her usual overly hyper manner. The party looked at each other, mentally debating whether or not they should listen and trust this girl or not. In the end, they decided 'why not?' since RED had joined them in the fight when Vent was taken, so she deserved some credit.

And so, RED grinned as she discarded the 'cover' she was using by flipping it into the air, the Manga book disappearing into her Inventory afterwards as she threw her Frisbee. This time, instead of just impacting one of the Viral M-3 Customs, it hit one, then bounced off onto the other two before retreating back to her hand, the girl having jumped to catch it.

Seeing their opening, IF and Nepgear raced ahead to claim their opportunity, mighty war cries ripping from their throats. They only had seconds to prepare however, for the stream of black and red that came barrelling through the wilderness and into the viral monsters, sending them into searing agony as the life bled from them.

They all gasped and stopped their attacks to witness this, along with the masculine figure riding on what first appeared to be a surfboard, but really was another humanoid figure once they got a closer look. The figure then laughed maniacally, as if it had just taken care of something frustrating. "HAH, FUCKING COBY'D THIS BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH!" the figure yelled, and they all realised who it was.

* * *

Vent growled as he landed on the ground, the Evocator Chevalier having grabbed him and transported him to another part of the Dungeon. 'Fucking shit, this bastard hits hard!' the male thought, sliding to a halt by grabbing the ground with his hands. He then stood straight as he gripped his shoulder, which had a massive hole in the sleeve of his Jacket as well as a burn mark spreading across his shoulder. Ghoul Skin may be impenetrable with most weapons, but fires can still affect them if they were hot enough. The proof was Tatara's Kakuja when it spewed Seidou in the face with its flames that burned at over 4000 degrees Celsius.

Soon, his opponent had landed before him after retaking solid form. The Abnormal Monster stood tall and proud, holding its sword, now coated with more flames than before, in one hand as it stared at him, waiting for him to make the next move. Vent had Vier switch to Sword Mode, pulling its lever to rev the Chainsaw inside it, vibrations rushing through his hand and arm as he readied himself to fight.

The two stared each other down for a moment, creating a thick tension in the atmosphere. The tension cracked, and the two were off, their swords meeting in a vicious, beastly dance of death. Every second was filled with the sound of metal clashing against metal as the two duked it out, trying to overpower the other with both speed and a bestiality that was reminiscent of a pair of wild animals drunk on bloodlust trying to rip each other apart.

'Tch, this guy…' Vent gritted his teeth as he brought his Sword in for a slash to the chest, only for it to respond from the opposite flank resulting in a deadlock between the two. Flaming sword vs Chainsword. Both weapons grinded against each other, trying to prove their superiority and give their wielders the opening to make the fatal blow. It was an even match, while the flames of the flaming sword were intense, Vent's Vier was resistant to flame attacks, thanks to the Chainsword needing to be in order to handle the constant revving. He'd discovered that each weapon was weak and strong against different elements, for example his Sword Mode was weak to Ice but strong against flame. His Gun Mode was weak to Lightning while strong against Ice, and his Scythe was strong against Wind while weak against fire.

 **'** **Master, use OVERDRIVE!'** Rasen urged him. Vent frowned, remembering the skills that he had unlocked when he first came to Lastation. While still suspicious about how they were with him, Vent knew that any extra help would be welcome if he were to face the leaders of ASIC in combat. Something told him that the others wouldn't make that same mistake that their brother, CFW Judge, did.

"Alright you walking microwave, lets kick this fight into OVERDRIVE!" Vent yelled, activating his Skill and allowing the aura to envelop him. A surge of power rose from within his being and he was able to push the Evocator Chevalier backwards with a gash to its chest. He then charged at it and delivered a series of diagonal and horizontal slashes, one to the right shoulder, left hip, right thigh, left side of the neck, top of the head, among other areas, some of them even aimed at vital areas like the face and stomach.

The Abnormal was barely able to hold on against them, until Vent dug his feet into the ground and spun his Sword into a slash to the abdomen. It was able to block, but with the added bonus of his Skill Vent was able to send it sliding backwards. Instinct guided him as Vent rose Vier to the skies above. That was when something… weird, happened, something Vent could NEVER have anticipated before.

When the blade was raised, the entire weapon seemed to gain a slight red glow that lasted a few seconds… before it erupted. Black energy with a crimson outline roaring as it enveloped the Chainsword and made it look like it was longer than it actually was. Streaks of electricity of matching appearance to the energy constantly sparked off it without stability, hitting the surroundings. Vent's eyes became saucers as he gaped at it, before he brought the weapon down. From the weapon, a trail of the same energy roared to life, streaking across the ground and colliding with the Abnormal Monster, sending it flying further. It nearly had fallen off the side of the platform, had it not created a crimson cloud of fire and smoke beneath it to carry it back onto the platform.

'Whoa, what the hell?!' Vent exclaimed in his mind, looking down at his Vier which had returned to normal after the attack had been launched. "What the heck… was that real?" he wondered, shock, awe, and confusion racing through his mind. He almost didn't believe what just happened had actually happened, but the long fissure in the platform, as well as the damage to the Abnormal's chestplate was evidence to suggest otherwise. He could still feel the residue effects of the energy in the air; it left a big buzzing impression on him. "What in the world was that?"

A cackle was heard within his mind, Rasen was cackling like mad, madder than normal which sent chills up the teen's spine, **'Wonderful, magnificent, hahahahaha! Finally, it has awakened!'** the voice exclaimed through his demented cackling. 'What do you mean, what's awakened? What's going on, Rasen?!' Vent yelled through the cackling to get his question across. **'Oh something grand, my master! Our Negatron reserves have been unleashed! You should be feeling the effects of the energy coursing through our veins right now.'**

After the voice said that, Vent noticed it, a huge feeling of energy swelling within his gut, then spreading across his entire body. He didn't know why, but for some reason it felt… familiar, like an old friend coming back after a long time of absence. The Aura he gained from his OVERDRIVE Skill darkened to a black colour, with a matching red outline to the energy he had just used. Lightning constantly crackled from the aura like it did earlier, but this time it felt even more unstable. 'Negatron? What the heck is that?'

 **'** **My, what powers those Skills of course!''** Rasen exclaimed while making to rein in his glee. When he had sufficiently calmed down, the voice began to explain in a joyful manner, **'You know how CPUs are powered by their Shares right? That Share energy doodad. Well, Negatron is a 'brother' to Share energy, you could say. It's usually not used by many, as it's a lot denser and harder to control. However, if controlled it's a lot more powerful, it's what makes our Skills so OP when we put more into them.'**

'… huh. So, why can I use it? Furthermore, how is it in me if normal people can't control it?' Vent asked, frowning while he saw the Abnormal Monster growl as it launched a fireball. **'Why, because you're not normal, Master!'** Rasen replied joyfully while Vent slashed the Fireball in half. He could feel the remnants of the 'Negatron' as Rasen had called it, inside Vier, strengthening it to allow it to do what it was doing. **'I'm pretty sure we've established that fact when you entered this world as a Hybrid of human and Ghoul. Any who, when we unlocked the skills, the Negatron began to awaken as well, as the use of such Skills was pulling bits and pieces of it. Think of it as an old machine activated again after a long time, but taking longer to work because of time.'**

Well, he could admit that he wasn't normal, Vent mused with a small chuckle. 'Alright then, how do I use it? It'll probably be erratic till I gain significant control over it, but hey when's that stopped me before?' he mused with an eager smirk spreading across his lips while he ran towards the Evocator Chevalier who rushed back, applying flames to its limbs to make it go faster somehow.

 **'** **Think of it like a pool, and your hand is like a magnet. Reach towards the pool and allow the magnet to draw it out, then use your mind to direct it where you want it to go.'** With Rasen's instruction, Vent made sure he had an opening to knock the Abnormal back, before getting into a Fencing stance with both hands on his weapon and closing his eyes. He reached down, deep within himself, stretching a hand into the void of his subconscious mind. Soon, he could feel the energy coming to him, wild and untameable like a beast.

As soon as it touched him, it tried to go wild, smacking away at his grip over it which made him grit his teeth. Each strike felt like he was being zapped by lightning, not a good experience. 'Ugh! Rasen wasn't kidding, I can feel the energy try to wrestle itself from me already!' Vent thought to himself, resisting the natural impulse of the human nerves to pull his hand back. He gripped it firmly despite the pain he was in, pulling it under him and commanding it.

The energy responded, converging on Vier's Sword Mode. Unlike before, Vent tried to limit how much Negatron went into the sword, so he could test his control over it. A heavy black aura soon formed around the sword, covering it like a misty vapour, making his eyes narrow, 'looks like I can barely control it… I'll have to train in this energy's use after this.' He thought in observation.

Bringing his attention to the creature, Vent growled, his eyes glowing a crimson red colour as he charged at it. The Abnormal met him halfway, and the two clashed swords. Vent struck at its neck, but it struck at his side. It then kicked him in the abdomen, making him gasp and bend over, before it spun into a reverse upward slash. Vent swiftly recovered, thanks to Negatron enhancing his reflexes as he spun his upper body like a sausage. The fire sword passed harmlessly in front of him, and Vent used the momentum to make a diagonal slash upwards towards its face.

The creature roared in pain, stumbling back while clenching its face with its free hand. Vent pressed the attack against it, swinging Vier at its exposed bodyparts while it struggled to defend. The two ended up in another deadlock, their weapons pushing against each other in a battle for dominance. Unlike before however, it was not a stalemate. The Negatron flowing through his Vier shielded the blade against the flames as well as attacked the enemy's blade itself. Slowly Vier gained the upper hand as cracks slowly appeared over the blade.

Seeing this, the Abnormal engulfed its blade in more flames, making the sword look more like a flaming Claymore than an Arabian style sword. The attempt succeeded at first, but soon enough the Negatron overpowered it and was able to cut the sword in two. With its defence gone, Vent grinned and decided to finish it, "this is the end for you!" he yelled, slamming the Negatron enhanced sword into the creature's chest.

He then raised a leg and stomped into the ground, having infused it with Negatron during the clash. It showed through the aura around it, which had become a swirling vortex while a slight red hue had overtaken it with more energy being discharged from it in the form of lightning. He then stomped on it, and the moment it touched the ground a huge explosion of energy propelled them both into the air shooting them through the trees like a rocket. It just so happened that he was going back the same direction that he had come here after being kidnapped against his will. Through that whole trip, Vent was so occupied that he failed to feel a prickling sensation from his shoulder-blades.

For 5 minutes the two had propelled through the forest wilderness like they had before, until they emerged from the wilderness and crashed onto the ground, causing a massive explosion. The male could faintly hear what sounded like something mechanical whirring as if in pain, but he didn't care much as he focused his attention on the monster below him. Vent raised his Vier and stabbed it into its chest, electing a cry of agony that signalled its dying form.

His OVERDRIVE Skill deactivated, and Vent stood now over the thoroughly charred remains of the Evocator Chevalier, one foot on the ground and the other over its chest with Vier in one hand, the other hanging by his side as he glared down at the Abnormal Monster corpse in distain. "You thought you were the superior predator… well you were wrong." He mumbled before stepping off the corpse as it dispersed into particles like the others.

Turning, Vent noticed the girls staring at him in varying expressions of shock, awe, and confusion. The male tilted his head, momentarily taken aback by their reactions to his… above average entrance. "Uh… what's cracking guys?" has asked while holding a hand up to wave it at them, hoping that his intro that was akin to that of one perverted YouTuber on the internet would be enough to break the ice.

It did, as IF had blinked several times before beginning to ask the obvious question, "Vent? That was a… stellar entrance." She remarked while recalling the entrance he had made. While she would never admit it to anyone, a part of her thought that was kind of badass, he literally came in a flame of glory. She then shook her head to focus on the other matters at hand, "so uh… care to explain what that was about? And what's that on your arm?"

"Huh? Well the aura was something called Negatron, apparently it's some dense and powerful energy source that I can use to power my Skills. I was only beginning to unlock them when I was using my skills before, so… and what's wrong with my… arm…?" the male glanced to his side, and to his awe he saw that his right arm had indeed changed. There had been an unfamiliar weight on it that he was subconsciously aware of, but he didn't focus on it till right now.

His arm looked to be enclosed in some form of organic armour, which ended at his hand and left it bare. From the forearm, what looked like an organic structure seemed to grow out, where 2 long blades protrude out. The weapon looked like a massive elongated double ended blade that was as long as he was tall, with its rear end a crimson red and shaped like an elongated spike, while the main end was a light tone of black with a zigzag red pattern that took over the bottom half of the blade.

Experimenting a bit, Vent tried to move his arm, finding that like the wiki's had said, the weight of a Koukaku was significant. Hopefully he could adapt to that, but nonetheless he was grinning like a fool. "Well… a triple type Kagune, huh? What's next, a Bikaku as well?" he mused with mock sadness, but his companions knew this was fake. Just then, a short prickling sensation came from his tailbone, and the male stopped joking around and looked behind him. He then began laughing with his hand over his eyes. "Hahahaha, goddamn when I said that I was joking around, but this is badass!"

Out of his Tailbone was a long Tail-like appendage, made from red flexible armour plating and an elongated Tip. Its length looked to be about 8-foot-long, but he knew from his reading of the TG Manga's that the length and size could be manipulated at will. **'Looks like a full set, eh Master? Oh, I can just IMAGINE what these would do with Negatron in em!'** Rasen mused, shortly after he would chuckle darkly at the images in its mind. Every image was darker and increasingly sinister, though Vent didn't mind as such since he would think those kinds of images himself, especially when he first learned of his weapon's Sword Mode.

Just then, a thought came to him, a thought that was inspired by the armour on his arms. 'Hmmm… has anyone in the TG Universe tried to create armour from their Kagune? Hmmm… no, I don't think anyone has. Usually its weapon-based like armoured swords, shields or drills, not a complete bodysuit armour. This needs to be tested immediately, the benefits outweigh the risks in my mind. Now, let's see…'

Closing his eyes, Vent allowed his mind to process the image of the armour he wanted. Well, he was making this one up so as to avoid copyright, but hey. He figured a piece of every Kagune type would be necessary, but it would primarily be his Koukaku. He could feel prickling sensations form from every exit point which meant that his Kagune was moving. He didn't know if it was taking on its default form or the form in his mind though, but he kept the image clear as a mirror's reflection inside his mind anyways. The crackling sounds that signalled the Kagune's movement continued, which he used as a signal to know if his attempt was in process or not.

When he could no longer hear the crackling, Vent slowly opened his eyes to check out what had happened. His eyes shot open wide, when he found his vision to be a clear but reddish colour. 'What the heck? Why's my sight all red?' he wondered, bringing his hands to his eye level. The male's shock became even more apparent when he saw the black armoured gauntlets on his arms, with matching black chainmail underneath as a form of bodysuit, greeting him. 'Did it work… did I make my own armour form?'

Slowly Vent directed his gaze downwards, looking over his body to see what the results of his little experiment were, and a grin nearly split his face in two, if it could be seen. 'Aw hell to the yeah, it worked! Man, they weren't kidding when they said that the Kagune can be shaped in accordance to your imagination! I was just pulling this outta my ass, but I sure as hell didn't expect this!'

Standing in Vent's place, was an armoured figure, with black chainmail as a bodysuit covering everything from his feet to his neck, his head encased by a helmet that had a rectangular Visor. There was an armoured chestplate over his chest, shoulders and back with elongated, narrow tipped shoulder pads, the black chainmail suit going down to his elbows before sinking into the larger black gauntlets over his forearms and hands. His lower body encased in the same armour as his chestplate, with extra black plating over his kneecaps, ending in red armoured military boots that had black spikes protruding out the back of the feet.

One last test was necessary to be done, and that was to see if he could still manifest his Kagune in this form. As if on mental command, all four of his Kagune types, Koukaku, Ukaku, Rinkaku, and Bikaku, were released in their full splendour, each of them pointing forwards like they were the limbs of a spider. The feeling he had of wanting to bounce up and down like a school girl was harder to contain within the confines of his body as Vent laughed uproariously, "hahahahaha! Aw hell yeah! Now THIS is badassery in its finest!" he bellowed.


	18. Chapter 18 - RED and more searching

**Chapter 18 - RED and more searching**

On the other side however, Underling was not so amused at this situation, in fact it was fair to say that she was furious at her newest defeat, "Gah! Taken down by a cliché kid with all brawn and no brains, and now their sole dude has even more power?! Damnit, you'll rue this day!" she yelled, pointing at them with her pipe as she sped off faster than they could react.

'And there she goes again, running with her tail between her legs…' Vent thought to himself, grinning as he returned Vier to Standby Mode, retracting his Kagune into him but keeping his armour form active he planned to have it as a blueprint of RC Cell like his clothes, so he could call on it at any time. Also, he could train himself to manifest this form faster, as this was his first time using it so the sped in which it formed on him was rather sluggish. He didn't feel the need to chase her down even though he could, as he was just too happy with the fact that he had all four types of Kagune at his disposal. Oh the thigs he could do with these babies…

"You can't help but praise the woman for her ability to run at the speed of light…" IF remarked, a smirk on her lips as she chuckled in amusement at Underling's defeat… again, by their hands. You'd figure she'd have learned by now, but then again stereotypical villains never do.

The male agreed with her, and while that was going on, Nepgear turned to their rescuer, who was beaming happily with stars around her head. "Um, thank you very much for your help. You came at just the right time…" she thanked, lowering her head in a respectful bow. At the praise given to her, RED beamed a happy smile at her. "Heh! It's only natural to come to my future wifey's aid!" she said, jumping at her and glomping the girl, much to her shock as she tried to get her off to no avail she should have guessed, but RED was stronger than she looked.

Now that the combat was over with for now, Compa looked over to the two and joined in the conversation. "May I… ask who you are again? I don't think we've ever met." Compa asked unsurely, trying to see if she could recognise someone like her. Wither… unique appearance, Compa had been sure she would have seen her before if RED was claiming to have been eyeing them.

Turning to face the girl while still clinging onto Nepgear, RED replied with her cheery tone. "Yeah, this is totally, absolutely, the first time we've ever met! In person!" the way she said that… it was kind of creepy and matched the tone only a certain type of person would have made. This increased the awkwardness of the atmosphere that the girl had unwittingly generated.

'… a stalker… huh…' the only male in the group mused mentally with a deadpanned tone and facial expression behind his Helmet. Then his eyes widened when a thought struck him. 'Wait, how could she have bypassed my Ghoul senses, if that's the case?!' Vent thought in shock. 'Rasen, do you know of this?!' he yelled to his inner tenant, only to receive mad laughter in response, **'hahahahahaha! Oh my god, this is comedy gold! Aw man, the looks on your faces are hilarious! I knew she was eyeing you all, but I decided not to say anything for the lols.'** Rasen explained while laughing like a crazy person in a mental asylum.

"In… person?" Nepgear asked unsurely, also creeped out by the way that she said it. Something told her that deep down RED was someone… who you didn't want to mess with.

Detaching herself from Nepgear, much to the girl's relief as her grip was tight, RED made a pose as she introduced herself once again. "Call me RED." She then placed both hands on her cheeks while her eyes took on a dreamy expression. "I'm travelling around Gamindustri to find my perfect wifey." RED said dreamily, fantasies coursing through her mind.

Everyone gave her a deadpanned look, it was like they were all making the sounds zombies would make when they were wandering about, until a flicker of realisation crossed over IF's eyes. "Oh wait, I've heard about some "unusual" girl who's always running around, looking for her soulmate…" the brunette mused, before giving the girl a look, "are you telling me that's you?"

If it were possible, RED's happiness went through the roof at this information, her eyes literally stars as she bounded over to IF, who jumped a little at the sudden closeness. "Amazing! People are spreading rumours about me! That's super-de-duper!" she exclaimed before trying to glomp her. However, unlike Nepgear IF had no qualms about defending her personal space, and she wasn't as meek as the Candidate was, so she used the infamous 'Iron claw' a certain black haired strict teacher at an all-girls Academy with only one guy in it would use.

'Not so sure until I hear the rumours myself and their context…' Vent thought dully, crossing his arms while narrowing his eyes at the crimson haired girl. He didn't trust her at first, with all these wacky antics though something told him she was not smart enough to come up with a decent plan for anything. So right now, he was on the fence about her.

Finally, the conversation started to move along thanks to the Guild Agent. "What are you doing way out here? Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that you helped out and all, but…" IF trailed off, she didn't want to offend the girl in some way, since she did save their skins. She didn't want to sound like an ungrateful twat like a lot of other people in Gamindustri, though she did seem a little too dim-witted to tell when someone was insulting her or not.

"Y'see I've always wanted a CPU Wifey, and when I heard you three left Planeptune, it was my big chance!" RED replied as she remembered hearing the rumours about the party while she was convincing (read: harassing) another girl to be her wifey, and literally aborting mission to go look for them, leaving the area she was in with a cloud of smoke trailing behind her.

At long last, Vent couldn't handle being silent anymore. "Pretty sure you mean four there. What, you forgot about my being with them?" the male spoke, before realising something. Why was his vision clear now and not red like it was before? He glanced at his hands and saw that he was still in armour form, so he felt his head. Soon enough he found his answer, apparently the visor and faceplate of the helmet could split in two, from his forehead down to just below his lower lip so his jaw remained armoured, both sides moving to the sides of his head while he spoke. 'Huh… might have to look into that. Reminds me of that cyborg Ninja who gets revengeance…'

Momentarily, RED blinked owlishly after noticing him. Comprehension flashed through her eyes as she gaped at him. "EH?! A guy?! Actually, I did hear that a guy was travelling with a bunch of cute girls… interesting!" she exclaimed. It was likely that she didn't notice him earlier because she was so focused on the girls Vent reasoned, feeling too intrigued by his armour's functions to feel any insult when he should have. "Anyways, sure enough, I managed to find you, especially my goddess, in such a dime romance novel situation – in danger!"

"Your Goddess…? Um… is that… me?" Nepgear asked again, while also pointing to herself to further announce her question. The pinkette didn't know what to feel about being called a Goddess, especially since she was a CPU Candidate only. She didn't think she would be ready for such a title as it meant taking over something her sister rightfully possessed.

The crimson haired girl then appeared before the Candidate, making her squeak as she grasped her hands and held them tightly in hers. "Can't you hear the bells of marital destiny ringing for us?!" this is the start of our life together!" RED spoke passionately, her eyes twinkling s they bore into the befuddled ones that Nepgear possessed.

However, she was not the only one that was in discomfort with this. 'uhhhh… huh. His getting weird, then again that's the norm in Gamindustri.' Vent thought, sighing in resignation. This was not his world, something he often found himself forgetting fairly often though he was always reminded somehow. So perhaps he could tolerate this like he had done everything else. This world was not like his own, that was a fact. Though, Vent figured the fact that his instincts remained as good as they were before meant that perhaps he would always remain a cautious person… he didn't know what to feel about that.

While Vent went through his personality crisis, Nepgear tried to respond to this situation she was in. "Um… uh… goodness, I really don't see where this conversation is going…" Nepgear furrowed her brows, before sighing in defeat as she looked to the others for help. To her disappointment, Vent was too busy in his own thoughts and Compa looked innocently at her, as if this wasn't something she was worried about.

"Okay, so basically, take me with you! There's no way I'd let my wifey out of my sight when trouble's afoot! I do hereby solemnly swear to protect my wifey with my lifey!" RED beamed, jumping onto Nepgear's back. Unlike before, Nepgear didn't attempt to struggle as she had learned from her past mistakes that struggling was useless when this girl wanted something.

She once again tried to process everything, but nonetheless that failed as well. "Uh… huh… um, wh-what am I supposed to do in this kind of situation?" Nepgear groaned and looked to the others pleadingly this time. She didn't know how much more she could take of all this.

This time however, she received salvation in the form of the Guild Agent, who had enough of the situation like she did. "Let her join us, I guess. After all, you can't deny that she's pretty strong." IF remarked, recalling what she had seen of the eccentric, clinging girl during their fighting. Though their male party member hadn't seen any of this thanks to being away for a bit.

"I'll just go with majority opinion since I haven't seen RED fight." Vent added in his two cents, and while he still had his misgivings about having RED along for the ride, he did have to admit that Nepgear had a way with making friends, plus IF was okay with it. If she was alright with it, then he could go on a little faith, as out of all of them she was the most level-headed of the group. The Nurse in their group closed her eyes and spoke like what she was saying was a fact of life. "Having more friends is good for your health!"

Now that she had been allowed to join, RED bounced up and down happily, getting amused smiles from the two level-headed people of the group. IF and Vent in case you didn't catch on. "Yay! Huzaah et cetera! Awesome! I hope we'll together forever, my wifey Goddess!" RED exclaimed joyfully.

Her indecision vanished when she heard that. Nepgear had decided that she didn't like being called a Goddess. "Um, I'm sorry, but could you please not call me a Goddess like that? I'm only a CPU Candidate you know… I'd be much more comfortable if you just called me Nepgear." Nepgear proposed a compromise, considering how… dominating RED's personality seemed to be. Said redhead grinned at her, liking the new closeness she had with her 'wifey'. "Ooh, what's my girl! No need for me to be so formal with my wifey, right? Then… lets have some fun, Nepgear!"

* * *

With that out of the way, the party decided to return to Planeptune. They would have gone straight to Lastation afterwards, but thanks to the Exiled Force the trains were damaged, so they needed some time to prepare. This was an unsettling piece of news to the party when they found out about it as they neared the station.

"Hmm, that's unfortunate…" Vent muttered as they stared at the sign before them which was placed conveniently in the middle of the road to the Station. Ahead, he could hear sounds of construction workers as they made the repairs. "Though then again, that Exiled Force was larger than usual, which would explain how they were able to do a bit more damage."

Compa frowned in concern for their next move. "What should we do now? We can't get back to Lastation at this rate." She asked them all. While she had been asking this, the Guild Agent had been looking down her phone for some reason. When her friend finished asking her question she looked up and spoke, "well, we have some new quests at the Guild opening up, so we could do that. We can pass the time quicker, and we can boost Planeptune's Shares." She reasoned. It was a good idea, as quests can take a long time to get done depending on their difficulty.

Vent raised a brow with intrigue, "really? Huh, interesting. What quests are there available IF?" he asked her, while in his mind he was wondering if any of them had any risks of encountering Abnormal Monsters, as that way he had something to test his new powers on. **'Yeah, you just wanna break some legs, don'tchya?'** Rasen quipped like he was an al-seeing sage. 'Hey, don't speak my intentions for me? Oh wait, carry on its not like anyone could hear you save for me.'

"Well, there's one in the Darkness Factory, remember that Quest with that chirpy client?" IF responded, raising a brow. She, Compa and Vent remembered that quest all too well, apparently a certain machine monster was about to invade Planeptune from there, so the client asked them to take care of it before it could breach the city. The client however sounded a bit too… happy, for some reason. "Well, it says here that there's an Abnormal Monster causing a ruckus there, taken out several hunting parties. Looks like your kind of thing, Vent. Plus, you can see what RED's skills are like."

The male hummed at this information. While true that he needed to see how strong RED was himself, he wasn't so sure she would be able to take out an Abnormal Monster like they could. They weren't like the other Monsters of Gamindustri after all. Then again, if she were ever in way over her head he could always back her up. "Alright then, I'm good." He stated his acceptance for the quest. Compa then brought something else to the table, "um, I just noticed but why are we calling these stronger monsters Abnormal ones?" she asked them, tilting her head in confusion. RED and Nepgear also looked at the level-headed pair in a similar manner.

"It's simple," IF began while placing her phone in the slot on her belt with her other Phones. Only Vent had noticed but whenever she was in a different nation she would use a different phone. Likely because each one works with a specific Network that was only limited by the Nation's borders. "We call them that because they defy the norms of Monsters in Gamindustri. Also because they came when ASIC rose to power. Let's get to the Guild, we have work to do, people!" she called out, getting a "Right!" from most of the party with RED adding on a "My Wifey" Candidate after hers.

This amused the sole male of the party while slightly annoying the said brunette as she, despite not liking most of the male gender for their perverted actions towards her gender, still remained straight. He had once joked about her sexuality when he discovered something particularly interesting regarding her and a secret photo of Compa, and her reaction was hilarious.

Turned out that Vent had no need to worry. When they found the Darkness factory and began engaging the monsters there, RED proved to be a well-versed asset to the Party. He figured thee girls already knew her weapons, but he chose to evaluate them anyways. Apparently, her weapons were toy-based, but he had assumed she had some skill when he learned she travelled through Gamindustri for her soulmate. Seeing her in action though was a different matter altogether.

As for the Abnormal Monster, it turned out to be a 'Blowback Dragon' which was a mechanical bipedal dragon with no arms, 2 legs, a spine, and tail. And a head that had a lower jaw underneath a large cannon-like rifle. Despite it not having arms, it did move really fast, and had excellent ability to strafe while shooting. Energy blasts. It proved difficult to bring down thanks to this, but Vent and IF came up with a plan, and it worked. He had told her that his training allowed him to detach his Kagune and form traps with it. Combined with what IF had observed of the creature's attack patterns meant that it was toast. And that proved to be true when through trial and error, it landed on his Trap and had its legs ensnared. Surprisingly it was RED who finished it off, a pissed expression on her face because it had managed to land a hit on Nepgear's face when she transformed, knocking her down.

"How dare you hurt my Wifey! You're going to be on my 'to kill' list, ya big meanie!" That was what she said, before acting like a tribeswoman and making a 'hiyayayayayaya!' sound as she literally went to town on its ass. Its shrieks and screams rang for miles as RED began her vicious assault. The party could only watch with shock, surprised, awe, and a little fear of the ticked off redhead. They all made a note to not piss her off in the future. Vent had been surprised when he saw a lack of fear from her when she saw his Kagune, but reasoned that she likely had seen creepier things through her travels… although her lack of brains as Underling put it may also be a factor.

* * *

Once the Dragon had been vanquished, the Party returned to Planeptune to go to the Guild. They filed in the Quest and received their rewards for the day. Rewards as in plural were given because they had unknowingly cleared more than one quest when they defeated the Abnormal Monster because they had obtained some loot from its remains, which unknowingly to them was the key to another Quest completion. Whelp, more money for them, at least! With that done, and Vent's doubts about the redhead's strength dissolved, the Party made their way to a hotel that was nearby, booked a room that had enough beds for the girls while Vent took a couch. He didn't mind it of course, but something told him that this would be a running gag for a while now.

Rasen's laughter wasn't very comforting.

* * *

The next morning, after waking up and getting breakfast, they made their way to Planeptune's Station, where they got their tickets and got on a train to Lastation. The ride itself was in truth, uneventful if one didn't count the times RED tried flirting with so many women on the train, much to the annoyance of some and the amusement of others. It was like she was a trouble magnet or something. That thought passed through the minds of the Party as they rode the train to Lastation.

A couple hours later, they were in the Land of Black Regality. They were walking out of the station out onto the main street when the Guild Agent of the group decided to address their situation. "So we still need some Hematite, but we haven't got a single lead. Know anything about it RED?" she questioned, shifting her gaze to the bubbily redhead who was walking between Nepgear and Compa.

'Why would she ask RED that? It's obvious that she wouldn't know because she would be focusing on her 'wifey harem'…' Vent thought to himself, questioning IF's motives which was a rare occurrence indeed.

Of course, like Vent had predicted in his mind, RED beamed with an innocent, carefree smile on her face, "I know that I know nothing!" she replied without a care in the world, just focusing on her 'dream come true' which was her position between two potentials 'Wifeys' AKA Nepgear and Compa.

That was why he felt little sympathy when IF released a tired sigh, holding a hand over her forehead. "Far too chipper for a useless comment. Not that I'd expect you to actually be of help." She remarked dryly. She had known that would have been a response from her, but a part of her still hoped she had a brain under her skull. Guess who won't be making that mistake again. 'Well, I may say that but something tells me that won't be happening…' she thought with resignation.

Nepgear frowned, looking down in anxiousness and concern as she pondered on what their next step should be. "What should we do? We need Hematite to get that information." She remarked, unease filling her up inside as she thought of them not getting to the Lastation Mascot in time. Forcefully, she pushed back her fears, it was not the time to be facing that stuff right now.

While the girls had discussed this, a Guard had been patrolling near them. He was close enough to be able to hear their conversation, and his eyes lit up in recognition at the word Hematite. As he started moving towards them, Vent glanced at him and immediately noticed something off. 'His steps are too… mechanical, calculated. And when that guy looked at them I swear I saw some form of recognition pass through his eyes. Also, he comes just when we say the word Hematite? Suspicious…' he thought to himself.

"Pardon me." The male Guard greeted in a classy manner, catching their attention as the girls turned to him. "I happened to overhear your discussion…" the Guard turned to glance at him, and Vent caught flash of surprise then jealousy from him, before he continued, "you are seeking Hematite, yes?"

 **'** **hoooh ho-ho! Do I detect some JEALOUSY from that guy? Probably thinks we're screwing these girls every night.'** Rasen remarked in his mind. Vent would have retorted with more fury than he ever had before, when he noticed something about Rasen's tone. It sounded like his usual mad voice, but there was an undertone of fury behind it that made Vent keep his mental voice silent. Of course it would, being a part of him meant that Rasen had some of his personality quirks, and the opinion on that subject was the same on his own.

In other words: Vent HATED those who assumed he would do such matters to his comrades.

"We certainly are, but who are you, mister mysterious man?" Compa asked him with a bright smile, it was her innocent reply to the Guard that brought down Vent's hidden anger levels, and made him thank the heavens that she was so pure. It just went to show that since there was still someone he should protect from lechers like that guy, especially when he saw the man glance down at her chest for the briefest of seconds. His Kagune barely stopped from releasing itself and impaling the Guard several times over, at this. For one they were in public, two his words implied that he had information on the Hematite, and three he wouldn't want to scare Compa, and perhaps Nepgear, RED and IF didn't seem like the types to be scared so easily, in his mind at least.

While trying not to shudder at the KI Vent unconsciously released, the Guard responded, "Town security, Ma'am." He stated with a professional tone, and that died down Vent's KI as he smirked to himself, knowing that he had taught the man a lesson: never assume anything but him and… those matters. Otherwise, he would rip you into pieces. Vent knew that was both himself, and the vigilante within him talking, but he didn't care. That was his feelings on the matter and nothing would change it. "I recall seeing a deposit of Hematite in a Dungeon I visited before."

"Wow, really?!" Nepgear asked with amazement. This was a huge stroke of luck! That was something she had sorely been wishing for, since the last few days have had their fill of misfortune. True Falcom helped, but that was soon followed by those multiple setbacks, the negative outweighed the positive that day. "Could you please tell us where that Dungeon is?" she asked him hopefully.

'I don't think that he would tell us this without expecting something in return, Nepgear…' Vent thought to himself, scowling as he saw a flicker of delight appear in the Guard's eyes. '… and looks like I was right. This guy's acting is eerily akin to someone, but I can't recall who…'

Unaware of his thoughts, the Guard spoke after raising a hand as if to stop something from moving, "Hold your striped stockings, girlie. I'd be happy to tell you, but how about you do me a solid in return?" he asked her with a tone that sparked a vague picture of someone in Vent's mind. He just couldn't clear it yet, to his frustration.

IF scowled, feeling more pissed off than usual for some reason, and she wondered why, "Why does this guy piss me off?" she muttered under her breath. Her eyes widened as a flicker of realisation crossed over onto her face and she groaned. "Oh right, 'cuz he sounds just like Mrs Law of Equivalent Exchange." She realised the part that was pushing her buttons while also simultaneously answering Vent's query.

Unaware of her friends' thoughts, Nepgear answered in determination, firmly nodding at the Guard's request. "Yes, sir! We'll do anything!" she proclaimed boldly. This garnered her a few looks from the saner people of the party, namely IF and Vent. 'That isn't something you should say to just anybody Nepgear…' they both thought in unison.

Meanwhile the guard gave a satisfied grin, glad that the girl had accepted his offer, "Great!" he chirped happily, before proceeding to explain his favour. "There's a monster causing problems over at Rebeat Resort. Mind giving the ol' what-for?" he then turned a bit sheepish as he commented further, though he sounded embarrassed when he admitted this next bit. "My unit had been tasked with hunting it down, but we were in way over our heads…."

'Ugh, that is just SAD…' Vent groaned in dismay. He could see why the Guard would be embarrassed to admit that, how the heck has Lastation not been overrun with monsters yet? If the military was that weak then the Abnormal Monsters would have ripped them to shreds by now. **'Couldn't agree more with ya, Master. Couldn't agree more…'** Rasen said dully, even he couldn't believe how weak the Military was and he was an insane psychopath.

While the two were contemplating how useless the military was, Red jumped up and down in excitement, going to Dungeons, beating up monsters with her wifeys and the dude companion? Sign her the heck up! "That sounds like a lot of fun!" she proclaimed before pulling out her Frisbee and grinning as she struck a pose. "Leave the pummelling to us!"

Turning to their newest party member, Vent could only sweat drop as he commented on this display and her words, "heh, you would be excited at pummelling monsters, RED…" he then shrugged his shoulders as a bloodthirsty grin fell upon his face, "then again, I would be lying if I said I wasn't the same." Already he was imagining what kind of monster could cause so much trouble, an Abnormal? A normal monster? A monster horde? Oh, he couldn't wait!

As the party turned to leave, Nepgear turned her head back to the Guard, a smile on her face as she spoke, "We'll go defeat that creature right away, so please tell us what you know when we return."

The Guard nodded with an affirmative smirk as he saluted the party, though he still glanced with jealousy at Vent. "You got it. Good luck. We're counting on you." And with that, the Party left the area, heading to the main gates to Lastation and out to where the Rebeat Resort would be located. IF had already gotten its location on her Phone when the request was accepted by their leader, so they had a lead to go on.

* * *

Once they were out of sight, the guard waited there for a moment, looking down at a hidden watch on his uniform. He then heard the sound of footsteps from behind him, footsteps that he recognised as he began to tense, becoming tall and formal unlike the informality that he had shown the cute girls. Slowly, he turned to the source of the steps and found the owner to be his Boss, Kei Jingugi herself. "Did I do good?"

"Yes." Kei nodded in confirmation, making a relieved exhale come from the Guard. He had hoped he hadn't messed up and gotten himself fired for his lack of successes recently with his unit. "I thought they'd be leerier of the request, but simple minds want simple tasks. Or is it desperation?" the woman muttered to herself. She knew that IF and Vent were the exceptions to her comment, but the rest of the girls seemed simple-minded in comparison.

Her thoughts were broken when the guard asked a question with a nervousness to his voice, "if I may be so bold, couldn't you have just given them the information without the wild goose chase? Also, why is it that they haven't tossed that rude guy out the party? Aren't guys supposed to be useless in this world…?" he asked, recalling their search for Hematite. It was an exceedingly rare ore, such as to the point where it would buy a fortune even in these badly affected markets. Nobody wouldn't pay top dollar, even ASIC, for that kind of Ore because of its use in technology.

As for the other question it was only asked out of jealousy, it was every guys wet dream to be around so many cute girls! Why, he bet that brat had gotten some action already, something many guys hadn't even dreamed of! The guard himself was still a virgin goddess damnit!

Kei closed her eyes as she thought of how to answer those questions. She didn't take long though. "its bad business for one entity to go easy on another. But not getting the materials would be problematic…" she trailed off, though for reasons that the Guard didn't know of. Nor would he since it was above his pay grade, and if he had learned anything it was to never think above your pay grade. "Also, that guy with them is not the ordinary man. If you paid attention to his posture, you would have noticed that he was ready to kill you in an instant. He confirms that his reputation as a beast is well deserved."

She then hummed in thought as she remembered something she had neglected to mention as the Guard nodded dumbly before resuming his patrols. A small smirk made its way onto her lips as the Oracle remembered something that had happened just minutes before the Party had been reported to have arrived back in Lastation, something she knew would have an effect on more than a few people… in several different ways. "Then again, I did give them the very same intel I gave to HER…"

* * *

The Rebeat resort… the same Dungeon they had first Quested with Uni, Lastation's CPU Candidate, as well as the location where they had their fallout with her that had minimal damage on Nepgear's psychology thanks to Vent's quick thinking ahead. Vent frowned as memories of that incident repeated themselves in his mind. Part of him felt bad for being so rough with Uni when he found her afterwards, but it was the best way he could think of to force her to confess her emotions. Tsunderes were usually very stubborn about their feelings, and fear seemed to be the best option to force those emotions to the surface.

Still, he figured an apology might be nice for her.

"Alright, ladies, listen up!" IF yelled as she stood in front of the group, standing with the posture of a drill instructor as she addressed them all with a fierceness that rivalled said professions. "Our objective is the Hematite in this Dungeon. Odds are its likely at the very back, it's how all Dungeon rules work. We're going to encounter resistance, so…" she then summoned one of her Pistols and pointed it behind her over her shoulder without even glancing, quickly shooting at an approaching Pixlevader before it could charge. "let's lock'n'load, people!"

"Right!"

"Yessie!"

"Got it, IF!"

"You betchya my tomboyish Wifey!"

Those were the collective responses from Nepgear who had her Energy Sword deployed, Compa whose Syringe rested in her arms. Vent had put Vier in Scythe Mode unlike the last time when it was in Sword Mode, and RED who readied a pair of Yoyos. The brunette nodded in satisfaction, smirking as she summoned her Qatars and dismissed her Pistol before turning around. Already a sizable Horde of Monsters had been assembled to take them down and make them their next meal. Too bad these weren't the ordinary humans they were used to. Will monsters ever learn?

They travelled through the Dungeon, fighting of the monsters that inhabited it. Unlike before, they didn't have Uni with them, but it didn't affect them too much. After all, not only did they have the powerhouse RED, but they also had the powerhouse Vent, and arguably he was even stronger than the CPU Candidates thanks to his Ghoul side and his choice of weaponry.

Eventually, they came to the end of the Dungeon without trouble or incident. Ahead, they could see the platform where they had fought Underling (Read: curb stomped her after she knocked out IF and Compa to their eternal shame and anger). Unlike back then, they saw that there was no Abnormal in sight, neither was there any signs of monster battles like a corpse or a sleeping Monster.

Instead, there was the monster they needed to beat.

RED was the one who pointed it out, literally as she pointed at it with her right hand, "That monster must be our Target!" she shouted eagerly. The monster in question was coloured in various tones of red, and had a dolphin shaped body. There was a black brace around its upper body, with smaller braces around the base of its long fins. Two small wings protruded out of its back as it bobbed up and down, as if waiting for its prey to appear. What looked like earrings hung down the sides of its head, and its tail had 2 circular fins around it. The nametag 'Sea Hunter' floated above its head.

That did seem to be their target; especially with the amount of bloodlust it was radiating, Vent noticed. Just before he could say something, the male felt Rasen speak to him through their link, **'Yo, wait up, Master. Just letting you know now some tricks with the Negatron energy. You can use it like the CPU Candidates do with their Share Energy, form defensive panels for barriers to defend, attack with it as well as enhance your weapons. It can do more, but I'm sure you can figure it out.'**

'Got it, thanks Rasen.'

 **'** **No problamo, Master! Now go, break some legs! Or Five! Oh fuck it, skull fucking for everyone! Ahahahaha!'**

'… and there you go with your psycho-ness. I swear you've got bipolar personality issues, at one time your wise and knowing, the next you're a freaking berserker sadistic psychopath. Its… kind of funny, in a weird way.'

 **'** **Why thank you my good sir, I am most humbled by your sincerest form of flattery.'**

'I wasn't praising you… not at least at the beginning anyways.'

 **'** **I KNOW! Hehehehehe!'**

'…#sigh#'


	19. Chapter 19 - ReUNIon

**Chapter 19 -ReUNIon**

While the male had that little talk with his tenant, Nepgear nodded her head in agreement with RED's assumption. It was the only monster around aside from the common ones, and the girl's instincts were telling her that it was strong. "I agree. Let's defeat it quick so we can learn where that man saw a deposit of Hematite!"

The battle started off with Vent and IF charging first with Nepgear and RED following close behind, Compa remaining at their rear flank to provide cover fire. The monster, the Sea Hunter, looked up at them and growled, rearing itself back before lunging through the air towards them.

Vent went first, activating his Armour form as he pumped Negatron into his Scythe, the blade exploding with power as it lengthened and became a series of blades made out of pure black energy with a black outline that constantly crackled with Lightning. When he was close to the creature, Vent slashed diagonally at its face, spinning into a horizontal slash before stabbing the ground with its bottom end, making an explosion of Negatron beneath him that not only stunned the monster but also propelled him over it. Negatron coursed through his right leg as he reared it back while activating a Skill. "FANG WAVE!" he yelled, swiftly launching a crescent wave of volatile Negatron at the enemy. The attack hit home, causing a large explosion to send the Sea Hunter flying.

It roared as it recovered just as swiftly as the speed of Vent's attack, before charging at the space where he would land. Fortunately for him, IF took the lead role in slashing its right side just below the back brace. The Sea Hunter turned to swing its right fin like a blade at her, but she blocked it, manoeuvring her body so that it passed over her head before she spun into a reverse slash to its face, and then jumped into a scissor kick. She then flipped backwards onto her hand and pushed upwards, propelling herself back for the next attacker. "Go for it, Gear!"

"Yeah! MIRAGE DANCE!" Nepgear responded as she launched her Skill at her enemy. The Sea Hunter was able to block all but the last slash with its fins, which proved to be more flexible than previously thought. The last slash resulted in an energy explosion that damaged the monster even further.

Now it was out for blood, and the first target in its sights was Vent who was running at it with his OVERDRIVE skill active. The Sea Hunter went to ram into him, but instead of Vent its head slammed into what looked like a circular panel made out of Negatron, which caused its body to rebound and flip over him to the ground behind him, exposing its underbelly to the air above.

That was his opportunity, as the teenage Hybrid grinned behind his Helmet as he jumped into the air, both his legs glowing with the activation of a Skill. "FANG BARRAGE!" he swiftly kicked once a second, a rainfall of Negatron waves crashing down on the Monster's underbelly for extra damage, considering the underbelly was an area that wasn't as protected as the rest of it. The Brace was also shattered by the impact, which further weakened its defences as the Sea Hunter roared in agony.

While that was being done, Vent returned Vier to Standby Mode and threw his arms to the sides, gathering his power. Lightning crackled over his arms that gathered inside his hands, spiralling together to form 2 black and red Negatron orbs that constantly released Lightning streaks into the surrounding airspace. He then put both hands together in front of him, the two orbs merging into one so that it matched the size of a baseball. With a mighty battle cry, Vent launched a massive beam of Negatron, one that hit the Sea Hunter right in the middle of its underbelly and caused a massive explosion. His Ghoul hearing could still detect the screams of agony made by his prey.

When the dust settled, the creature looked to be on its last legs, its body was shaking constantly, it looked to be breathing heavily and it was slowly tilting to one side. 'Huh, this'll be over in the fastest time yet…' Vent mused to himself. It was likely the destructive power of the Negatron attacks; it looked to have left the most damage out of everyone's attacks. 'Negatron is truly something to be reckoned with…'

Seeing her chance, RED took the honor of making the final push. RED summoned her Frisbee as she cried out joyfully, "SWIFT STRIKE!" her Frisbee started glowing purple as she threw it into a curve, putting some spin on it. The Frisbee flew around the creature's weakened form leaving a purple trail that had a series of love hearts behind it, and while it was distracted with the light show, RED made a mad dash towards it. Upon closing the distance enough, RED jumped into the air and grabbed the Frisbee, which was thrumming with power at this point. The last thing the monster could do was make an 'Oh shit!' face as RED came down and slashed, stopping behind it as an energy slash cut across its form.

With a dying howl, the Sea Hunter fell to the ground and disappeared into Particles, ending the rather short fight. The crimson haired Wifey Hunter beamed as she bounced up and down like a schoolgirl on a sugar rush. "Easy Peasy! I'm gonna get stronger for the Wifeys!" she happily exclaimed, jumping into a twirl and making a V sign over her right eye which was closed into a wink.

When she saw the last of the monster vanish, RED cheered by throwing her arms into the air, "Yeeeeeeah! And that's that!" she then turned to Vent who was looking at his armoured hands with interest. "That was super amazing, Vent!" she exclaimed while bounding up to him. The male jumped back in slight surprise at the sudden intrusion in his personal space, but he'd seen her behaviour before to the point of not caring enough anymore. "The way your hands went 'WHOOSH' and the 'BANG!' it's like you're a master magician!"

The male chuckled nervously as he recalled telling the girls about the Negatron and its abilities after he had discovered it with Rasen's explanations about it in Virtua Forest. The girls were surprised at such an energy's existence, and how Vent seemed to be able to utilise it. Though, this was the first time he had used it since the Virtua Forest Ambush and the subsequent 'Code RED intervention' as the crimson haired girl put it.

He thought there was a pun in there, but dismissed it.

"Yeah well, still haven't gotten a complete hold of it. That attack was meant to be a tad weaker but more power seeped in than I intended." His helmet split open, allowing Vent to then give a smirk to the girl as he decided to do some praising of his own. "Also, not a bad finishing move, girl. Remind me never to get onto your shitlist." He commented, earning a giggle from RED who soaked up the praise like a sponge with water.

"Yeah, it didn't take very long, did it?" Nepgear pondered, before smiling in relief. She didn't want to waste time when they could be finding Lastation's Mascot. "Let's get back to that town." She suggested to the party, wanting to learn where the Hematite was as soon as possible.

Compa hummed in response, before verbalising it, "Okie-Dokie." She made to turn and leave with the Party following suit, when she noticed something out of the corner of her eyes, something that drew her attention, "Huh…? Wait a minute, I see something over here…"

She pointed to the edge of the Platform, where something indeed was resting by sitting down and leaning against the railing. Upon inspection, it looked like a small grey mouse with two white whiskers on each cheek and big red eyes, appearing almost lifeless. While it had black colouring on its arms, legs, and inside of his ears, it did possess two small red-purple demon wings and a rat-like tail with a big black heart on the end and a zigzag split in the centre. On its chest, was a red and yellow broken heart marking, and it wore red boots.

"Chu…" it moaned in pain, with what looked like an injured right arm. Apparently it must have gotten attacked by the Sea Hunter as the cuts on the arm, as well as the rest of its body, were shaped like its fins. It was likely going to be lying there for a while yet; something Vent summarized.

IF grimaced in disgust at the sight of it, "Yuck, that's one oversized rat." Yeah that was the typical response to seeing rats and other rodents. "C'mon Compa. Just leave it there." She urged while placing a hand on the Nurse's shoulder.

Vent guessed what would happen based on the affronted expression on Compa's face, and sighed, 'while I would agree with you, IF, it's not in Compa's nature to leave someone or something injured. When she sees an injury, Compa'll treat it to the best of her ability.' He thought to himself. It was an admirable trait to have especially for a nurse, but sometimes it can be a little… disturbing, like right now for instance.

"No way! The poor baby looks hurt…" she retorted, gesturing to the number of injuries on the Mouse's body. With speed that was almost inhuman, Compa went to its side and knelt on one knee with a first aid kit at her side that she opened to take out some items. "Just hang on Mister Mouse… let Nurse Compa patch you up." She said in a soft, soothing voice as she began tending to the Mouse's injuries.

It took about half an hour for the Nurse to path the Mouse's up, and soon enough the rodent began to regain consciousness with a low and weak "ch-chu…?" of confusion. Apparently it hadn't expected to see the blurred face of someone looking down at it. Its vision began to clear as the haziness in its mind began to fade away. When it was all gone, the Mouse looked up and saw who it was it couldn't see before.

"How do you feel, Mister Mouse?"

"Ah!"

The moment it laid eyes on her, its heart stopped. Compa's innocent yet hopeful gaze was accompanied by lots of sparkles and the background turned into one of pink with darer pink love hearts. 's-so… beautiiiiiiiffuuuuuuuul!' the Mouse thought as it gazed at her with awe, what looked like love hearts appearing in its eyes.

It didn't take long for the Mouse to stare at her with a love-struck gaze, but either she didn't know what it was or couldn't tell, nonetheless Compa still aimed her innocent smile at him as she asked, "What's wrong?"

'Does she not notice? It looks like the Mouse is… ugh, I don't wanna even think about how that would work.' Vent thought as a shiver travelled up his spine. A part of him urged him to say something, but instead he opted to remain quiet during this scene, as did the others as they watched. Nepgear had a confused look on her face, IF was frowning as she stared with discontent, but she didn't say anything, while RED was giggling at the 'adorable' crush the Mouse now had on Compa.

The sudden question shaped the Mouse out of its daydreaming as a flustered expression formed on its face, or what Vent could only assume was a flustered expression. "Chu! Er, um… C-Can I get your name…?" it squeaked in a shy, timid voice as it blushed furiously, trying not to look into the angelic eyes of the girl that it now had a crush on. Speaking of the Mouse, the male wondered what gender it was, so upon examination of its appearance and vocals, he determined that it was male, and the fact that it was acting like a love-struck schoolboy in front of the Nurse made it all the more obvious. So, Vent decided to refer to the Mouse with masculine pronouns.

"Of course!" if it were possible, the girl's small smile just got brighter as she stood up, her head shadowing the sun too cast a shadow over the Mouse's face, but he didn't mind as the sun was literally replaced by Compa's happy face in his mind, body and soul. "I am Compa. It's nice to meet you, Mister Mouse."

Said Mouse hummed as he closed his eyes and hummed her name, testing it on his near-non-existent lips. "Compa… Compa, huh…? Hmmmm, Chuuuu!" all of a sudden though, he then dashed off faster than a bullet train. And was it just him, or was there steam coming out of the Mouse's ears? **'Not just you, Master, I saw it too. Awwww, how cute! The Rat thinks he's got a chance with Compa! Oh I can imagine the things ahead are gonna be very interesting, ahehehehehehe!'**

His usual psychotic personality aside, Vent did admit he had a point. The poor Mouse was going to try to win her heart. He didn't know how that would work, but hey he had no experience in dating… and likely he never would… but Vent could understand how the Mouse came to like Compa, though he figured it was only for her physical beauty since he didn't try to learn her personality. Or maybe not, but like previously mentioned, he had no clue.

Meanwhile, Compa furrowed her brow in confusion as she cried out, "Oh! Where are you going?" she reached out, but it was too late, the Mouse had fled the scene. She watched as the trail he left behind settled down into nothingness, a small silence enveloping the party.

Soon, Nepgear destroyed that silence. She looked utterly baffled by the events that just occurred. "That Mouse was… talking, right…? I'm not hallucinating, am I…?" she asked, glancing to the rest of the Party. She hoped that she wasn't hallucinating right now, this wasn't something you would see every day.

IF nodded in agreement, though she looked glad that the Mouse was gone, she too as confused over the Mouse's identity, "Yeah. Monster, or something else? Oh well, whatever." She shrugged her shoulders, before calling out to their resident Nurse who was still watching where the Mouse had gone. "Compa, you ready now? Let's go."

"Aw, Mister Mouse…"

* * *

In another section of the Dungeon, the same Mouse had finally stopped running to take a breather, but that was barely registered in his mind as he constantly thought about the encounter he had with that girl. Her sweet smiling face, her beautiful eyes… her beautiful everything! The Mouse puts its small hands together to mimic a praying gesture as he swayed his hips from side to side with love hearts appearing around him. "SH-SH-SH-SHE'S ADORABLE! An Angel! My Adorable Anger, Compa!" he proclaimed to the heavens.

He didn't know where that angel came from, but he knew he would see her again soon, maybe after the Task was complete he could spend time with his angel…

No sooner after thinking that, the Mouse felt a vibrating sensation in his left boot. While cursing his small arms, the Mouse managed to take out a phone from the confines of the boot, small enough for his tiny arms to keep it in their grip. The phone was grey in the centre with a red frame, a small antennae coming out the top with a zigzag pattern and the end a black love heart that had a red zigzag pattern to represent a broken heart. It looked like his Tail actually, as well as had the same colours he had.

Pressing a button on the Phone, the Mouse raised the phone to his ear, scoffing in anger at the interruption of his daydreams about Compa, "yeah, what is it, Chu?" he asked with impatience. He wanted to dream of his wedding with Compa, damnit! 'probably that low ranking Underling, Chu.' He thought snidely, smirking when he remembered the uproar that broad's running gag stirred with her peers.

The second after he thought that, a torrent of bloodlust poured from the phone as an inaudible voice spoke into the Mouse's ear. His eyes became white plates with a black outline, and his skin tone turned to a pale grey. Fear replaced his previous annoyance as the Mouse hurriedly stuttered an apology "E-Eek! I-I'm sorry boss, I-I-I didn't know it was you, I swear! Chuuuuu!" the one ringing him was NOT the person he had expected, instead of that useless Underling it was someone who he feared even more than the leaders of their group. Someone who would command fear and respect from the worst of the worst.

#INAUDIBLE CHATTER#

More words were spoken from the unknown ringer, making the Mouse's skin become even paler to the point where it rivalled ghosts, until it regained some colour at the end, "ye-yes, whatever you say! I'll get to it, boss, just you wait, Chu! I'll find it better than that useless Underling, Chu!" he stammered while his eyes shook wildly, his back straight while his Tail wagged faster than a blur.

More inaudible chatter came from the Phone before the call was cut short, much to the Mouse's relief. With a deep sigh, he managed to place the Phone back inside his Boot, groaning in dismay, "man, that guy really gives me the creeps… it's like he's going to eat me if I say something out of line, Ch." He remarked, phantom shivers still rising up his spine. "I have no idea what the higher ups were thinking, bringing guys like HIM to life, sure he's saner than them, but there's some pure psychos, ones that make our boys look tame in comparison."

With another sigh, the Mouse began to make his way out of the Dungeon, much calmer than he had been when he was running from Compa. "Sill, I better get a move on, don't want to give that white haired guy with the red mask any reason to try and punish me. And then, when I finally find the Mascot I can find and spend some time with my adorable Angel Compa, Chu!"

As he left with a happy squeak, the Mouse did not notice that he was being watched. In the distance, there stood a figure, cloaked in the darkness of the shadows of a cloak. The figure eyed the mouse with a stare that was eerie and sinister, like a predator watching its prey while being ready to pounce. "hehehehehe, a delicious little rat… aww, I can't hurt him otherwise the big man might hit me. I don't like the dark-dark-dark. No, no, no I don't. I wanna have some jam already, jam is good…" the figure slightly turned, and the sunlight was able to expose a part of the figure's face, to be more specific… a single Kakugan. "But HUMAN JAM IS BETER!"

The party made their way back to Lastation, but it wasn't a smooth journey. There were some random encounters, consisting of Abnormal Monsters as well as ASIC Fanatics, attempting to hinder them on their journey to the Land of Black Regality. Why that was, they had no idea, but some of them guessed that ASIC were trying to stop them from getting closer to the Mascot, which indicated that they were either behind on their search like they were, or they were almost there and didn't want to have any interruptions like last time. And with who was commanding their forces, Vent was willing to believe the latter.

In the end though, they managed to fight them off and win the battles, ending up within Lastation's main City. The first one to enter through the Gates was RED, and by complete coincidence the same Guard from before was standing by a shop, watching the other civilians. 'And judging by his stance and how he had even talking to Kei earlier, I guess that she told him to wait here when she heard that we were coming.'

After they had left the Guard the first time, Vent had discreetly detached a piece of his Kagune, forming it into a special 'ear' that he had plant itself onto the side of a nearby building. He used it as a makeshift recording device to listen in on Kei's conversation with the Guard, and when it was done the recording was sent to his main Kagune through electronic communication, before the device disintegrated out of existence since it wasn't attached to him in any way to sustain its need for RC Cells.

So he had known about her intentions all along.

'Guess I have an 'ear' for this sort of thing, huh?' Vent mused to himself. He then heard Rasen groan in his mind, **'Dude, that was a horrible pun.'** He complained like a child. Vent gained a dark smirk as an idea flashed through his mind, 'Really? Well then, I'll be sure to make a nice list of them the next time you step out of line.' He thought back with an evil smile. He almost laughed when he heard the normally insane tenant in his mind whimper and cower like a frightened baby. Ahhh, it was so good to have Blackmail.

 **'** **Screw you.'**

'With what, a 'screw'driver?'

 **'…** **all of my hate.'**

'Love you too…'

* * *

With that mental argument won in his favour, Vent and the Party made their way towards the Guard, when RED bounded up to him before they could catch up. "Hey again, Gramps!" she cheerily greeted, raising a hand to the air and waving at him. "We pummelled that monster you wanted us to defeat!"

While he was happy that the monster that gave him so much trouble was gone, the Guard couldn't help but be slightly offended by RED's remark about his age. "G-Gramps?! I know this is an Anime-inspired world, but I'm only in my twenties…" he tried to defend himself, but soon trailed off into silence when he noticed that his words weren't reaching the crimson haired girl. This made him sigh in depression, which made Vent feel a slight sense of pity for the man.

RED waved him off dismissively, her facial expression ever the same. "Ehh, nobody cares. Besides, Boys are really gross. C'mon, out with the info already!" she urged, bouncing up and down like a child on a sugar rush. She didn't realise that someone was glaring at the back of her head till a chill came up her spine. Slowly, she turned behind her to see Vent giving her a dark glare. "o-oh, hi there, Vent..." she stuttered, laughing nervously as his KI didn't abate. "hahaha, didn't see you there."

"You say boys are gross, huh? Are you including me in that too?" he asked with a low tone of voice. It made him seem scarier, plus with his left eye about to change into his Kakugan, RED felt like she was staring at the grim reaper. "Do you wish to amend your statement?"

"Okay-, you're not one of them! You're an exception, your awesome you're good!"

"Better."

Finally, the KI abated, much to RED's relief as she made note never to insult boys in a general sense when Vent was around if she didn't want to be beaten to death by his Kagune. She swore he had almost manifested it for a second there despite the amount of people around them. Just goes to show that Vent didn't like being compared to the general male population.

Watching this interaction, the girls all sweat dropped at Vent's… extreme reaction to RED's words. "Anyone else just feel a shiver go up their spine?" Compa asked, smiling nervously as she watched the two.

IF nodded as she did the same, though she was smirking in amusement, with a sense of unease underneath. "He looked like he was about to go crazy like in battle…. Well, I guess I can see why, he wouldn't want to be compared to all the pervs out there." She remarked before turning to the Guard, "You said you saw a Deposit of Hematite, right? So tell us already."

Blinking at the slight impatience in IF's tone, the Guard cleared his throat to get their attention again. "O-Oh, um, all right… Hematite, was it? I saw some when I wandered into Septent Resort." He told them as IF downloaded the path they needed to take to this 'Septent Resort'. I believe those pesky Tae Kwon Cats enjoy collecting gems like that one." The Guard told them.

'Why does that sound so similar to the Rebeat Resort?' Vent wondered, but dismissed it soon after. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, there were a lot of those in Gamindustri.

Nepgear beamed happily, too glad to have the location of the Hematite to care about such trivial matters. "Septent Resort, right?" she asked for clarification, getting a nod from the Guard. "Okay, thanks so much!" with that, the Party left back out the Gates. They didn't need to have anything yet, and their strength was just barely diminished at this point. Though, in the future that might not be the case.

Later on, they arrived at the entrance to the Septent Resort. Like Vent assumed, it had a lot of similarities to the Rebeat Resort Dungeon. The architecture was the same, but unlike the Rebeat Resort, this Dungeon seemed to go full circle, with mini platforms branching off from the main path. It looked like it could only go one way though, and with a few sniffs Vent identified the monsters in the Dungeon. While a lot of them were alike with the other mentioned Dunegon, there were a few exceptions here and there. His instincts screamed at him to fight them, to rip them apart and devour- 'Whoa, what? Where did that come from? Ah, whatever, I'll focus on the task at hand.'

With that in mind, Vent and the Party made their way inside. They fought a collection of monsters, including the Dangerous ones which would usually target the male instead of the girls giving them time to strike at its weak spots, plus whenever they turned their attention on them, Vent would divert it back to him, reminding them who the greater threat was. They fought Bashfuls, Mrs Bashfuls, Fish Zombies, Dolphins and West Points. It was a fun ride, nobody would question that.

* * *

In time, they reached the last platform at the end of the Dungeon, which looked bigger than the others and had a pile of silver ores at the back. However, a bipedal skunk-like creature with a golden helmet and claws was guarding it by sleeping like a feline atop the pile. The slow rising and falling of its chest, as well as the bubble out of its nose, indicated that it was sleeping like that Ancient Dragon did back in Virtua Forest – Depths.

IF noticed it first and pointed to its sleeping form with her hand, "There." She called out to the others as they jogged up to her. "That must be the cat monster we were told about." They all looked ahead, and saw that it indeed was the monster they were looking for, the Guild Agent having shown them a picture of it earlier. It was reminiscent of a similar creature they had encountered in another Lastation Dungeon, Endless Zone he thought it was.

'This one seems to favour its claws though…' Vent thought to himself, while deciding on which weapon to use for the upcoming fight. He had been using Vier a lot lately, so Vent decided to leave it in Standby Mode for now and utilise his Kagune, that would shake things up a bit.

"If we can take its Hematite, we'll be able to get the information we need! Okay, let's go!" Nepgear cheered, getting a unified "yea!" from the Party as they made to head into the Platform's centre to start their attack on the unsuspecting Tae Kwon Cat.

However, just before they could begin their attack, they heard sounds of footsteps and a gun being cocked from behind. A familiar voice called out to them in a stern, harsh manner, "Halt, Cretin! Drop the Hematite, nice and slow…!" everyone turned to find the source of the voice to be none other… than… UNI!

'Oh fuck, I should have figured that Kei meant Uni back in her conversation with the Guard!' Vent thought to himself angrily, pissed off at his own carelessness. Because of this, he had literally NO IDEA how to tackle this situation without it resulting in a bloodbath. Hopefully things wouldn't turn out too bad.

When Nepgear saw who it was, her eyes widened in shock and disbelief, the only word coming out of her throat being a "Huh?" as she looked at the new arrival, who soon realised the same thing.

Though, it took a moment for that to kick in. "Hmmm? Ack! N-Nepgear!" she cried out in shock and alarm, 'wh-wh-wh-what?! Oh no, I haven't gotten my act together yet! This I too soon! It would only be worse if Vent was here too…' she thought, praying to the Goddesses that she was wrong about the male being here. Unfortunately, her gaze shifted and found the sight of Vent staring at her with a blank look on his face. "Gah! Vent too!"

Nepgear however, had the opposite reaction once she got over her shock. "Yay, its Uni!" she cheered happily, completely forgetting their last encounter as she bounded up to the girl in a similar manner as RED had done to her when they first met. "You were looking for Hematite too?"

The other Candidate looked so embarrassed she didn't fully recognise the question she was being asked. She was flustered beyond words at this unexpected turn of events as she replied with a raised voice, "W-Well, yeah, but what the heck are you doing here?!" she exclaimed. She then began to shuffle nervously, looking anywhere but at Nepgear as she tried to find a way to speak. "Erm, uh, I mean, what I meant was… I'm sorr… No, wait… I'm not mentally prepared for this…"

'So this is what happens when a Tsundere is caught off guard with her walls down, huh?' Vent thought with his lips twitching ever so slightly. He was repressing his urges to snicker in amusement at the situation since he knew it was going to derail sometime soon. After all, Tsunderes do tend to lash out for no apparent reason.

Either not hearing her or too caught up in what she was going to say next, Nepgear continued while not responding to her stuttering. "I'm so happy to see your doing well." She said, smiling. The smile then shook slightly when she recalled what happened the last time they met. "I mean… we left on such a sour note and all…" an idea then popped into her head, as she spotted out of the corner of her eye the Tae Kwon Cat wake up and let out a shriek, 2 identical monsters with the same Nametag jumping out the ocean to its aid. "Did Miss Kei ask you for help, too? Why don't we team up again and beat the mean cat monsters together?" she offered after gazing back at Uni.

Said girl huffed and crossed her arms under her chest as if trying to regain some form of superiority over her fellow Candidate, though anyone with half a brain would see that she was failing. "Don't get ahead of yourself!" she shouted at her, before she quietened down as she continued. "I… I have something to say to you, y'know…" in the next second, she shook her head and her arms fell to her side. "S-So, like, are you listening? I'm only gonna say this once in your lifetime, so pay attention."

Unfortunately, it seemed that Nepgear didn't listen. If she did, then things wouldn't have ended up as they would soon. "Yippee!" she cried like an excited toddler getting something he or she wanted. "I'm so glad that you're here! Now I know we'll get the Hematite without any trouble!" She may not have seen the signs, but the others in the Party did. And they all braced themselves for what was going to happen.

"H-Hey! I told you not to get ahead of yourself! Grr…" Uni was getting angry the longer she stared at Nepgear's joyful face, the fact that she was trying to tell her something heartfelt only to be ignored like she wasn't even worth listening to only added salt to the wound. Eventually, her temper exploded and she forgot her original goal. "Ugh! Screw it!" she shrieked with multiple tick marks on her forehead. "Y-You'll never get your Hematite and live to tell the tale!"

'Called it! Now where's my damn credit!' As Vent thought that, Nepgear stepped back, recoiling in shock at the sudden outburst from the Candidate. "Huh? Why are you being a bully? Are you… still mad at me…?" she stuttered, nervousness taking over as she thought that Uni wasn't over what happened the last time they met.

Too angry to hear any more, Uni shouted again even more pissed off, "Shut up, dolt! I said you won't get it, so you won't get it! Never!" geez, Uni sure had claws! Too bad for her though she didn't realise one thing about Nepgear: she too had her breaking point even with her 'girl next door' personality.

And she had soon reached that point when she looked down in fright, with teardrops in the corners of her eyes. "Y-Your being so mean today…" her eyes then filled with anger, something that caught the Party off guard as she rubbed them with her Sleeve, wiping her tears away before glaring right back at the Lastation Candidate. "Fine! You can't have it, either!"

Disbelief replaced anger, no, mixed in with Uni's facial expressions as she looked taken aback at the sudden rise in hostility from Nepgear. It wasn't what she would have thought her to react like, given her shy and timid personality, so she was surprised. "Wait, what? Your mad at me now?" she exclaimed in disbelief, before an idea surfaced and a mocking smile formed on her features. "Then, let's just find out who can get to it first, shall we?!"

Finally, IF and Vent couldn't stand it anymore, and just had to say something to quell the incoming squabble. "Retract the claws, girls." The former began as she held her hands on her hips. The latter soon followed suit while gesturing to the monsters ahead of them, "we do have some monsters patiently waiting for us, remember?"

Compa gave them a guilty expression as she bowed apologetically, "I'm so sorry about them, Mister-Scary-Monster-Horde. Can you wait a little longer?" she pleaded with them by leaning forwards and putting her hands together in a praying motion while making her eyes look as big as possible. "Bleh." The monsters responded, even they looked done with this.

 **'** **I get the feeling that those monsters are probably thinking 'what the fuck is wrong with them?' right now…'** Rasen added his two cents for the first time since they entered this Dungeon. Vent nodded to his Tenant's words, completely seeing that happening judging by their stances. The natural monsters of Gamindustri behaved in a… peculiar, manner. They usually had a 'system' that made them wait till the right time for both sides to fight. He didn't know why, but wasn't complaining.

* * *

Unbeknownst to them, a familiar mob of green hair was visible behind the second last platform. Slowly, Underling peered out, having seen the devastation left in the Party's wake and having silently trailed them through that destruction. When she was close enough to eavesdrop on them without them noticing, Underling had been surprised at what she heard. "The hell…? Are those brats arguing…?" the girl murmured in confusion.

This was an unexpected surprise, but welcome in her eyes. This presented a chance to test something out, given to her along with that other item she got from Tatara. "Boss Tatara said that this one was still experimental, since the other Abnormals were getting pounded into a bloody pulp. Whelp, better late than never. Let's try this baby out. With this, hopefully this'll smash them all at once… hehehe." Reaching into her jumpsuit, Underling pulled out a black and purple disk, before throwing it into the water and waiting for what was to come.


	20. Chapter 20 - A Monster Showdown

**Chapter 20 - A Monster showdown!**

It was just for a moment but Vent noticed something out of the corner of his eye, something having splashed into the waters below. What it was he didn't know as it was fully submerged. 'What the heck was that? Was I seeing things?' Vent wondered in his mind. 'Did you see anything, Rasen?' he decided to ask his Tenant, who responded with **'Nope. Not a thing. I only noticed the same as you did.'** Whatever it was his Ghoul instincts were triggered by it and that was enough for him to warrant extreme caution. His Kakugan was just barely activating, his eye sporting a dull red glow.

RED the person however, just asked the others in typical RED manners, "Hey, so… can I beat these things up yet?" she asked the Guild Agent while turning her body to face her. Her hands twitched, eager to let loose and beat up some Monsters. Heck, she already had her Yoyos deployed and ready to launch, that was how eager she was. In a way, Underling's comment about her being 'all brawn and no Brain' made sense.

The said Guild Agent waved it off dismissively, for now. "Let em be for now. We have to let this other cat fight resolve itself first." She remarked, gesturing to the two girls who were still going at it in their verbal contest. If one wanted some reference material for the sight before them, then imagine 2 toddlers squabbling over who got to play with their favourite toy.

With her ever present caring nature, Compa turned to the waiting monsters with another apologetic look on her face as she bowed again towards them, "We're sorry, Mister Monsters…" she said, before standing straight and pulling an item out of her Inventory. It looked like a thermos container, and she took the top off as she sat before them. "I brought a Thermos of Tea, so please allow me to pour us all a cup."

This was… something that not even Vent could have expected. He sweat dropped at what Compa was doing, and hell, even the monsters had a 'really?' expression on their faces as Compa poured Tea out from her Thermos. "I… I don't get what's going on here… this scene seems so messed up right now." He remarked quietly, hoping nobody heard his ramblings. Sure Gamindustri was a rather… wacky place, but this was taking the cake.

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on one's opinion, the situation changed to an intense one as a black shadow formed from the waters below, indicating that something was about to surface. Before anyone could react, something large and black burst out the surface of the water, a mighty roar echoing across the Dungeon and the surrounding lands.

Time seemed to slow when it reached the apex of its jump, slowly spreading out its claws and mouth as it came down on the Tae Kwon Cats before they could move to defend themselves. Time then resumed at its normal pace when the creature fell towards them, diving like a swan. They cried out as the new arrival landed, crushing one with its right claw upon impact while biting into the second's head and the third suffered a stab through the stomach from the arrival's left claw. All three dispersed into particles that went inside it.

It then turned its head slowly, soon glaring at them as it moved to face them, growling and snarling. Compa, who was close to the monsters when they were attacked got sent flying, yelling out a "Kyaaa!" as she fell onto her backside, squeaking as sharp pain shot up her spine. When she was able to, she looked up and saw exactly WHAT had attacked them, but she was still in mid-sentence, so it changed abruptly. "Yikes! What's wrong? Was my tea too-OMG WHAT IS THAT?!"

The creature that they were ambushed by looked way too sinister for it to be a normal monster. it moved on all fours like a dragon, but was covered in hard black scales. Its head looked like it had ridges going own it, the neck, and the rest of its body. It had small purple eyes, a maw of fangs made from black scales. Its back had come with a pair of large wings, currently tucked in with several red talons replacing the thumb. Its hands and feet were reminiscent of the wing talons, and out of its backside was a single long Tail where the ridges ended at the tip.

Its nametag: Gore Megala

Vent bellowed in laughter as he swiftly took on his Armour Form, the helmet plates at the sides of his head as he exclaimed, "hahahaha, now THIS is some familiar territory! Whatever that was, it's gone now!" afterwards, his Ukaku and Koukaku manifested themselves from his person, showing off how eager he was to fight and gain back some normalcy from this situation.

Meanwhile, RED was bursting at the seams in her excitement, finally, a Monster she could beat up for her wifey harem!... and Vent. She almost forgot about him again, but made sure to include him when she remembered. She didn't want him to somehow read her thoughts then give her more of those looks. Dude really didn't like being called anything related to perverse behaviour.

Unknown to her, Vent smiled in satisfaction, hiding it from the others.

The brunette rolled her eyes at Vent's antics, while also agreeing with him. "Enough with the Jokes, Compa! Vent, control yourself, we don't know where the heck this thing came from, but its blocking our way to the Hematite." She told the two, before turning her head to address the last member of their party as the crimson haired girl had already gotten ready for a fight. "Gear, stop arguing and help us take care of this!"

Her words seemed to snap the girl out of whatever aggressive mood she was in as she looked to the rest of the Party. Her eyes widened in shock and horror at the sight of the new, and most likely Abnormal, Monster and that her friends were getting ready to fight it to get the Hematite. "Huh? What the Goodness?! Where did that thing come from?!" she shrieked in alarm. She didn't know what transpired during her and Uni's argument, but this wasn't the time for that. Completely forgetting about Uni, Nepgear summoned her Energy Sword as she dashed to her friends. "I'm on my way!"

This obviously didn't sit well with their resident Tsundere though as she called out, "Hey, wait! I didn't say we are done talking!" she then ran off after Nepgear to catch up. When she saw the creature they were fighting, Uni opted to raise her Assault Rifle and stick to the edges of the Platform. She wouldn't be a part of their group, but she wouldn't let them have all the fun.

By the time Nepgear finally regrouped with her friends, the monster known as the Gore Megala had already launched its offensive. It started by generating something within its mouth, black wisps of smoke being their only warning IF and Vent were the first ones to realised what it was about to do as they yelled out "SCRAMBLE!" in unison. The Party all got out the way of the incoming attack's path.

Good thing too, because the Gore Megala spat what looked like a black orb of pure darkness, which left a large fissure along the ground it touched. It hit a piece of the Platform's circular wall, and that piece was destroyed in seconds. If any of them had been hit by that then they'd be the ones obliterated instead of that piece.

The Gore Megala chose to attack RED, bounding over to her and taking a swipe at her with its right claw. RED jumped into the air to avoid it, flinging her Frisbee at its face. However, to RED's dismay the creature caught it in its jaws, making her flail her arms and legs in mid-air while yelling, "Hey, that's cheating! You can't just catch my attack like that, cheater, cheater, underpants eater!"

"I'm preeeetty sure this thing doesn't care about the rules like the more aggressive of the Abnormals, RED!" Vent yelled as he slammed his Koukaku blades into the ground and generated a series of spikes from them. They burst out in front of him, lunging towards the monster in hopes of trapping it. However, the Gore Megala fired a few more darkness blasts at them, obliterating the Spikes. He then growled, his eyes gaining a faint crimson glow as he reared his leg back, activating a Skill while charging it with Negatron. "FANG WAVE!" he called out, kicking diagonally to launch his Negatron FANG WAVE at it.

It responded by taking to the skies, its wings uncurling as they spread to their maximum wingspan of an impressive 12 feet. They then had flapped once as he leaped, taking it above the FANG WAVE as it sailed harmlessly under it. It then swan-dived down at him, talons extended to rend him into pieces. Vent paled at the sight, 'oh shit!' instincts made him react, shooting forwards with the help of his Ukaku. The attack missed him, or so he thought, as when he slid into a spin so theta he was facing their enemy he noticed a set of claw marks on his Armour Form. The male's eyes widened behind his helmet, 'goddamn, this thing's able to cut deep through my Kagune…' he thought to himself while wondering what would have happened if he hadn't taken his Armour Form.

"DEMON FLAMES!"

Before Vent and the Gore Megala could continue, IF struck with her DEMON FLAMES Skill. The attack hit it dead on, and the creature growled in pain, enduring the attack as flames licked away at its plated body. Afterwards, it went for IF by firing another darkness blast and then running behind it. IF dodged the first strike by flipping to the side, but the second charge was unavoidable since it came seconds after, catching her and sending her flying. "Gah!" she gasped, feeling the impact comparable of a freight train upon colliding with it. She would have fallen into the ocean had it not been for Vent taking to the skies and catching her before she could.

"Thanks man, you saved my hide." She thanked the male, getting a nod of appreciation from him as he touched down far enough away from the creature. Letting her down, Vent and IF turned to the Gore Megala… only to quickly roll to the opposite sides to avoid another darkness blast. "This thing's really getting on my nerve." The Guild Agent commented as she saw Compa fire several rounds at the monster's face but they had no effect. When RED tried to get in close with her Yoyos, the beast just flicked her away with its Tail before charging at their CPU Candidate. "Oh shit, Gear!"

Like with his brunette companion, Vent flew in front of the monster and swung his blades, slicing through it to halt its charge. The Gore Megala roared as it swiped and swung at him, trying to claw his insides out. Vent parried and blocked the strikes until he flared his Ukaku and fired a shower of Shards, making it stumble back. Angered, the Gore Megala screeched as it jumped into the air before diving towards him like it had done before.

This time, the male responded by ascending higher into the air, his Ukaku having flapped against the winds to get him more lift and out of the Gore Megala's attack path. It slammed into the ground, but unlike before it spun around a full 180 degrees, before flapping its wings and taking off after him.

The Guild Agent cursed at this, "shoot, the thing's in the air!" she yelled as she switched to her Pistols. "Shoot it down, guys!" she began to shoot at the creature as it ascended after Vent, but in no time at all the creature was too high for her bullets to reach. Nepgear's eyes narrowed as a pillar of light engulfed her, "I'm sorry! I'll be serious now!" she called out, and when the pillar vanished and Nepgear was in HDD form, she got into a combat stance, "CPU Candidate Nepgear has arrived."

With the transformation complete, she took off after the two flying beings, engaging in the aerial combat with them. Compa pouted at the situation unfurling above them, clearly she was displeased. "No fair. Those guys can fly while we can't. I'm so jeally…" she mumbled depressingly.

The sounds of blades meeting flesh, explosions of energy and the like occurred above their heads while IF turned to her friend with a dry look, as if she couldn't believe what her friend had said. "Really? Remember that time when Nep tried to take us across the Land by flying? You complained that you wanted to walk home afterwards." She stated with a deadpanned tone. Remembering that experience, Compa paled, recalling how Neptune had acted back then.

She soon stopped being jealous.

Meanwhile Uni watched on, the Gore Megala seemed too into them to take care of her, and she hadn't fired a single shot off at it. She watched the three duke it out above, the Gore Megala rapid firing its darkness blasts to try and corner them, and when Vent and Nepgear got close enough it would attack with its claws. This was the first time that she had been watching Nepgear fight with her friends, as back in the Rebeat Resort she had been focusing more on hunting down the Monsters and completing the Quests. Although, she had taken a bit of time afterwards to recover from that little outburst she did afterwards.

So here she was, watching the battle unfold. She knew that Nepgear's friends were too preoccupied to ask for her help - not that she would mind you! – she was just curious on how strong Nepgear was. She didn't have the same mind-set from earlier, so she was acting differently. 'I'll watch this play out, see how it goes and how strong Nepgear is. I'll challenge her myself afterwards.'

Back in the air, the battle was raging fiercely between the three beings. It was apparent that the Gore Megala was fast on its feet before, but in the air it almost seemed like it was faster. Both Nepgear and Vent were getting pressed to fight against it, to even land a hit on the damn Abnormal.

'Tch' Vent cursed in his mind as he swiftly flipped backwards to avoid a black energy blast fired from their enemy and raised Vier in Gun Mode to fireback at it, only for the creature to dash to the side, avoiding the rounds. 'This fucker's a slippery one! We're practically dead in the air up here!' he realised. If they couldn't hit it and stayed solely on defence, then they'd never get anywhere.

"Nepgear, listen!" he called out, only to wince when he saw the creature ram into Nepgear from behind, the CPU Candidate crying out in shock and pain from the surprise attack. He quickly managed to circle around and catch her before she could hit the water however. She gave him a thankful nod, to which he responded with a nod of his own. "We need to get it back onto the ground so the others can help. We're dead meat up here otherwise, it's just too fast. I have an idea, but I need you to be the one to send it down when I give the signal." He explained like a commander, Nepgear filling up with drive as she nodded in resolution.

She too had noticed that the Gore Megala had increased speed when up in the air like this. Those large wings it had were a problem in hat they made avoiding its lunges difficult when fully spread in flight. After Vent released her, Nepgear flew to the side, firing at the Gore Megala to get its attention.

Her rounds hit it in the side, making it growl in irritation as it changed targets from Vent to her. The transformed girl gulped down the anxiety she was feeling, even in her HDD state, and took off towards the centre of the clearing. The dry winds blew against her face, making her hair dance in their embrace as she headed down to the ground with the monster hot on her tail. She could hear the creature's roars and snarls right behind her. Down below, IF and Compa figured something was happening and made themselves ready accordingly.

Just as Nepgear was about to force a landing, she quickly made a U-turn, pulling back into the air at the last second. The Gore Megala, which had been about to bite off her right foot, quickly realised that it had to stop lest it crash into the ground. It quickly moved it wings ad halted right above the space in the centre of the clearing, thinking it was safe.

It couldn't have been more wrong, as proven when suddenly a dozen Tentacles, ones reminiscent of Vent's Rinkaku, suddenly burst out the ground and held it in mid-air, some impaling its limbs while others held it by its wings by forming hands of their own. The Gore Megala screeched and roared as it tried to escape, but the Tentacles held firm.

'Yes, it worked!' Vet thought as he clenched his fist under his armpit in triumph. He'd managed to detach a piece of his Kagune, the same method that allowed him to make his clothes and armour, and hide it under the ground while Nepgear had distracted the Gore Megala. It had just barely formed in time to ensnare it, but he had managed to get it trapped inside his Kagune.

Now all there was to do was to capitalise on the opportunity.

Nepgear thought the same as she aimed her Gunblade at the enemy and activated a Skill. "SLASH WAVE!" she sent the attack down towards it, hitting it in the back making the creature cry out in pain. The attack had hit it in the back, which meant that it did more damage than it normally would. She then arced down wards, winding up behind the base of its Tail that thrashed around, struggling against the Tentacles that held it to no avail. "MIRAGE DANCE!"

Her next series of attacks managed to do more damage than normal thanks to hitting its rear, slash marks appearing over its hind legs and backside. A circular shadow loomed over it and Nepgear looked up, briefly widening her eyes before she strafed backwards as fast as her wing processors would allow her.

It was a good thing she did, as no sooner had she gotten far enough away a massive pillar of flesh suddenly slammed into the top of the weakened Gore Megala, slamming it into the ground with a massive THUD that cracked the centre of the circular platform. The pillar then split into 6, unravelling itself to reveal that it was made from 6 Tentacles, familiar ones belonging to Vent's Rinkaku Kagune as they receded back to his side. He was also encased in his OVERDRIVE skill, the crimson aura with the lightning having travelled through his Kagune to empower it further, proving Rasen's earlier theory about it being stronger this way.

The male slowly descended down to Nepgear's level, the two hovering above the ground as they eyed the downed monster warily. IF and Compa soon joined them, neither of them having dropped their guard.

"Do you think that worked? That attack from Ven-Ven looked like it did critical damage to it…" Compa questioned with concern. While they had fought plenty of Abnormals in the past, she never lost her skittish nature regarding them. Their behaviour, their strength, none of it was natural, thus she was always nervous around them or topics revolving them.

IF shook her head as she readied her Qatars. Unlike Compa, she was not nearly as skittish as she was cautious about these creatures. She was partially curious as to where this one came from, but knew that this wasn't the time to ask questions. "I don't think so, look it hasn't dispersed into Particles yet." She noticed something out the corner of her eye that quickly confirmed her thoughts. She once again spoke, this time in a harder, more commanding voice as she got into a battle stance. "Be ready, I think we're in for round two!"

Much to their surprise, the Gore Megala managed to stumble onto its feet, its limbs shaking to show how much damage Vent's Kagune did to it. It looked up while stabilising itself, glaring heatedly towards them while rearing its head back. They all go ready to move, thinking that they were going to have to dodge a black ball again.

This time, they were the ones who were wrong when the monster roared up into the heavens, its form suddenly becoming a shroud of black smoke, smoke that shaped like its roaring form. The smoke then condensed and shifted, becoming more humanoid in appearance. It was making the party nervous as they wondered what it was doing. "Um… I'm not sure that I like where this is going…" RED muttered nervously, sweating slightly at the forehead. If someone like her was nervous about something, then it definitely was something to worry.

Finally, the smoke began turning solid once more, revealing a masculine figure before them. The figure was covered from head to toe in armour. The helmet was sporting a black chitinous texture, with 6 glowing purple eyes staring with hunger and bloodlust. 2 glowing purple horns protruded out the back of its helmet, adding to the demonic appearance it sported. Its shoulder guards were like the claws of its monster form, looking like they were gripping the shoulders from behind. Behind the shoulders was a tattered black cape with a purple interior that reached its lower back. Underneath was a chest plate made from black segmented armour pieces, underneath that being a protective scale mail suit. Segmented armour covered the arms down to the hands, which ended in clawed nails. A belt was around its waist, with 2 large black pieces that held a waist cape matching the one its shoulders had, reaching its ankles in length. Its legs had black segmented armour and its feet ended with sharp 3-taloned boots.

On its back was a massive Greatsword, double-edged with a Skull shaped guard with glowing purple eyes and mouth, which the blade protruded. Also protruding from the base of the blade were 2 curved demonic black horns, each with several black blade-like spikes protruding from the sides. The blade was larger than its wielder was tall, black sides with purple metallic edges. In the centre of the blade's sides were glowing purple eyes.

Their expressions were simple: WTF. "Okay… that's new." IF muttered in surprise. Out of the many Abnormals they had fought, none of them displayed the ability to transform like that. It oddly made her think of HDD… but for monsters, and that was something worrisome. She would have to inform Histoire and tell her to update the Abnormal Monster Bestiary when they got through this.

"I-Iffy!" Compa exclaimed as she pointed an index finger at the monster, which slowly grasped the handle of its Greatsword and drew it from its back. It held it in a two-handed stance, its eyes glowing with predatory desire to rip them apart. "That-that monster… it just transformed!"

Nepgear nodded her head, slowly raising her Gunblade in preparation for round 2. "This looks like the final form of a Boss monster. It's going to be stronger and with more abilities, so be on your guard!" she called out to the others without breaking the staredown she was having with the Gore Megala in human form… or what was close to it, it seemed more like an armoured humanoid form since the armour concealed anything remotely human from view.

Vent hummed in acceptance of the CPU Candidate's deduction, holding Vier in Scythe Mode as he activated OVERDRIVE. The Crimson Aura enveloped him and filled him with Negatron, making him feel like a drug addict constantly on high, but with the mental clarity of a sane person. "She's right, this transformation must have some abilities the other form doesn't, so stay on guard, everyone."

The Party readied their weapons for when the creature was going to attack. For a moment, nothing happened, until Vent felt a rumbling beneath him and glanced down. His eyes widened as an "Oh Shit!" escaped his lips. He jumped to the side, avoiding a massive black spike of dark energy, quickly bouncing back to the edge of the platform to escape the onslaught of Spikes.

This made the Girls gasp and call out his name. "Vent!" But this proved to be the chance the Gore Megala needed as it charged forth, appearing over RED's form and swinging at her head, intending to cleave it from her shoulders. Quickly, RED ducked under the swing, but cried out when it delivered a vicious kick to her face, knocking her down to the ground. "Hey, no hitting the face, my pretty face is needed to attract wifeys!"

If RED's words were heard by the creature, it didn't show any sign of reacting to them save for it raising its sword to attack her. However, it jumped back to avoid a slash from both IF and Nepgear. "Try not to lose your head, idiot!" the Brunette growled in irritation as she scolded the redhead girl, quickly loading up and firing a DEMON FLAMES at the Gore Megala. However, it managed to dodge by jumping over the ring of explosions, landing beside the erupting pillar and rushing towards her with the intent to kill.

Nepgear strafed into its path and blocked its swing with her Gunblade. She grunted as she tried to keep up against the brutal strength behind the blade, but it was a difficult task. "Ngh! Th-this guy's strong…!" she exclaimed, before she lost the battle of strength and deflected the blade away from her. She tried to slash at its exposed side, but the Gore Megala jumped back to avoid it, then jumped back at her with its Greatsword raised for an overhead slam.

Not only did she strafe out of the way, but Vent took her place and slammed into it with his quad Kagune wrapped around him so he looked like a massive ball of flesh. His surprise attack caught the creature off guard and knocked it down, while Vent uncurled his Kagune from its previous state back to its default Tail, Wings, Blades and Tentacles. Vier now was in Ring Mode on his right hand, safe from it.

Vent followed his attack with his Rinkaku stabbing into the ground and his Ukaku unloading a volley of Shards enhanced with Negatron at the downed enemy. When enhanced with Negatron, Vent's Ukaku Kagune unloaded a series of large black lightning bolts with red outlines.

The Gore Megala noticed the attack coming when it stopped rolling across the ground, and instead of blocking them with its Greatsword, it used the momentum of its rolling to constantly flip from side to side while retreating backwards. After it avoided the Negatron enhanced Shards, the creature sensed danger beneath it and quickly twisted its body, avoiding a large Tentacle coming from the ground where it once stood.

Multiple Tentacles surfaced around it, trapping it and concealing its Movements. The Gore Megala could see that they were forming a Cage to restrict it, and thus decided to up its game, its Greatsword exploding into a large puff of black smoke, smoke the same as its monster form turned into previously. The smoke split in two and gathered at both his hands, forming a pair of black gauntlets on its hands with purple blades protruding out the back of the forearms.

Its form vanished into a blur, dashing throughout the cage and slicing through the Tentacles till they couldn't support their own weight. Vent gritted his teeth in pain as the Kagune Cage collapsed, setting the Gore Megala free, before it charged at him with the intent to chop him into little pieces. Quickly, he raised his Koukaku blades and entered a series of slashes with the monster.

SLASH!

SLASH!

SLASH!

SLASH!

SLASH!

SLASH!

SLASH!

SLASH!

SLASH!

SLASH!

SLASH!

SLASH

SLASH!

They went, their arms a literal blur as they circled around each other like Lions, trading blows faster than the eye could see. Danger senses kicked in and it ducked under a swing from Nepgear, Vent jumping back to allow his Rinkaku time to regenerate. IF soon followed suit, joining Nepgear in pressing their attack. Compa circled around and fired at its shoulders for support, while RED employed hit and run tactics, swinging her Frisbee while moving about to keep the enemy from concentrating.

Despite their attacks coming in fast and furious, none of them could do much damage to the creature's armour, for it was strong enough to endure energy slashes made from Nepgear's Gunblade. "Tch, this guy's gonna take forever at this rate…!" IF cursed as she slid under a swing from the Gore Megala's right Gauntlet. She got up and jumped into a spinning slash to the back of its head, only for the monster to catch her offending limb in its right gauntlet and smash her into the ground with enough force to create a large crater. She gasped, coughing up blood from the experience.

"Iffy!" Compa cried as she saw her friend go down. "You stay away from my friends, you big meanie!" She quickly ran towards the monster from behind, swinging her Syringe like it was a baseball bat and hitting the back of its head. The Gore Megala tensed, but otherwise showed no signs of being hurt by the attack, slowly turning its head to leer at her. Compa gulped and backpedalled, laughing nervously. "Hehehehe… um, nice Mr monster…"

The Gore Megala apparently didn't like that, as it's Gauntlets became black smoke once more, combining together as its hands moved as if they were holding a two handed rifle, the smoke solidified into A devilish looking rifle. It had the basic butt and trigger of a rifle, but the body was shaped like a human spine, with a glowing purple barrel merged on top of it. Swiftly aiming the weapon, it made to fire towards a paling Compa.

"Compa!" Nepgear cried out, seeing that her friend was in danger and quickly firing a laser blast from her Gunblade. The blast knocked the rifle away from her friend, but a shot had already been fired at her. Compa let out a frightened squeak as she made to move out the way in time, but that wouldn't be happening considering how the shot was fired at speeds that rivalled a bullet train.

Fortunately, help arrived in the form of an armoured Tail grabbing her by the waist, wrapping around it and pulling her out of the way of the shot. Said shot hit a piece of the platform and exploded, taking a chunk of the railing with it. Compa squealed at the Tail until she was brought to its owner's side, finding it to be Vent who was kneeling on one knee, the back of his waist bubbling violently with RC Cells. "V-Ven-Ven!"

"You alright, Compa?" he asked her urgently. When she gave him a nod while his Bikaku lowered her to the ground, Vent's shoulders slumped as he released a relieved sigh. "Good, I wasn't sure if I'd got to you on time there." He then levelled a glare towards the advancing Gore Megala that was soon beset by Nepgear and IF once again, its weapon transforming back into its dual Gauntlets. "This fucker's got a lot of guns, but I think I know a way to beat it."

Compa blinked owlishly, surprise evident in her voice. "You do?" she asked him in disbelief.

Vent nodded, gesturing to the monster while feeling his Rinkaku repairing itself within the confines of his Kakuhou. "Yeah, this time outside of the battle gave me insight as to how it moves, how it behaves, and its weaknesses. I'd say more, but we're short on time so I need you to-"

"You want an opening, right?!"

Surprise crossed onto everyone's faces when they saw a yellow bullet round suddenly fly through the air, past Vent and Compa's heads and right into the Gore Megala's chest. It stumbled back, caught off guard by the attack until lightning sparked around it, and its form was restricted, paralysis having worked its magic.

The shooter, Uni, lowered her Rifle and gave them a glare, having fired a bullet with her Skill PARALYSIS SHOT. "What are you guys waiting for, get going already!" she yelled at them, promptly snapping them out of their stupor.

"Alright, Uni, thanks for the assist." Vent said, smiling in gratitude behind his Helmet. His Rinkaku had fully repaired itself, and once again exploded out of the back of his waist, ready for combat. "Compa, I need you to hang back and provide fire support. I'll go in with my Kagune."

The Nurse nodded her head as Vent broke into a run, his OVERDRIVE Skill empowering his speed so that he was faster than bullets. The others saw him coming, and quickly realised that Vent had a plan, so they fell back. Their weapons weren't damaging the creature's armour as much as they liked, but they did notice that Vent's Kagune was doing more than theirs were. It sort-of stung at their pride as female warriors, but they wouldn't complain about this thing being destroyed,

Vent quickly launched his Bikaku at the immobilised Abnormal. The Tail slipped through the air and slashed through the creature's chest armour, leaving a horrible gash that exposed the data particles that it was made from. Apparently, most monsters were like that, even the Abnormals. It then bonked it on the head, sending the Gore Megala into a daze.

Using this to his advantage, Vent began morphing his Koukaku during his speed running. Before he had to sacrifice a few Tentacles to form additional weapons, but thanks to his Koukaku that would no longer be the case. His blades morphed into large, crimson red gauntlets, each one having a single Kakugan in the back of their palms and black spikes emerging from the forearms.

He reared one fist back before throwing a vicious uppercut, knocking the creature into the air. Unfurling his Ukaku, Vent took to the skies as he chased after it, soon ending up above it. Raising his gauntlets, Vent proceeded to pummel the creature into oblivion. "ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAAAAAAAA!"

His Gauntlets flew through the air so fast that it made the illusion that he had dozens of fists. With one last punch, Vent slammed the Gore Megala into the ground in the centre of the platform, making the ground below it give-way and lift upwards. The Gore Megala cringed in pain as it felt the damage exceed its armour's defences. The strikes from the females weren't that strong, nothing it couldn't handle. However, those appendages that the male warrior possessed were a different story. They were able to damage its armour to the point where it was slowly cracking under the constant barrage, it had sensed this and had tried to take the male warrior out first, however that had not happened.

Thus, what happened next was only to be expected.

All 6 Rinkaku Tentacles impaled the Gore Megala by its arms, legs and the chest. Negatron coursed through the Bikaku Tail in great quantity, making it a dangerous sight. As the crimson aura and lightning added to its fearsome, borderline demonic appearance. If it were anything else, then the Gore Megala would have wet its pants. "This is the end!"

With Vent's outcry, the Bikaku slammed down in near instantaneous speeds, whamming into the Gore Megala's form. The moment of contact, a massive eruption of energy released into the air, piercing the clouds above. By the time the eruption vanished, Vent landed before where his prey was, landing on one knee as he looked up to where it once lay. His Bikaku lifted itself free from the ground, Negatron no longer coursing through it, to see what become of the creature. He saw nothing, nothing but a crater and a few remains of tiny particles, meaning that the creature was slain, finally.


	21. Chapter 21 - Uni gets owned

**Chapter 21 - Uni gets owned**

Silence passed through the area, the only sounds that could possibly be heard were the heavy breathing that Vent and the girls were doing. "Whew… that was tough, tougher than normal." IF remarked as she stood straight, dismissing her Qatars. "That creature definitely was tough; I'll give it that."

Compa wheezed hard, soon losing balance and falling onto her backside. Her forehead sweated profusely, sweat which she wiped from existence with her right arm's detached sleeve. She then let her back fall onto the ground and spread her arms across it, too tired to move them anymore. "Thank goodness…. It's all… over…! I thought we… double over… from fatigue…!" she said in between large gasps of air.

"That guy was hardcore…!" RED exclaimed as she jumped up and down, still as energetic as ever unlike most of the party. "Ca we beat him up again, can we, can we?" she exclaimed further, excitement burning in her eyes. Her enthusiasm was then snuffed out when she remembered one detail she had overlooked in her excitement. "Oh wait, we can't… I'll never forgive it for hurting my wifeys."

Vent rolled his eyes as his 4 Kagune types retracted into his body, deforming into RC Cells he could use later. While he would admit to being mildly winded, he thought that this fight wasn't the hardest they'd fought. Flashbacks to Tatara invaded his mind at that thought, making him scowl. He then shook his head, no point thinking about that right now, not when they had their goal right in front of them. His helmet's faceplate and visor split to the sides of his head with several mechanical whirring sounds, revealing his mildly impatient gaze. "While I'm sure you guys wanna rest right now, we do have to get to the Hematite, remember?"

When he said those words, everyone blinked as they remembered that their objective was right in front of them. IF literally had an 'oh, right¬' face as she made to move towards it. Compa and the others remained silent though, wanting to get some rest and were unable to move.

Back at her hiding place, Underling watched the battle until the end, a frown marring her features when she saw the Gore Megala go down. "Tch, I guess that thing wasn't enough to finish things after all… huh?" something hit the side of the platform close to her position, making Underling curious as to what it might be. Looking down into the water, her eyes widened when she saw what it was.

It was a black and purple disk… a dimly glowing black and purple disk, but the same one that she had thrown into the waters.

"Oh, hello…" she muttered under her breath, reaching down and plucking the Disk out of the water to examine it closely. While the glow was weaker than it was before, the water was easily vaporised by the Disk, keeping it dry and ready to recover. "Boss Tatara said that these things bloom twice, guess this is what he meant…" Underling remarked in amazement, turning the Disk over several times to get a better look at it.

Looking back at the Party, Underling thought about sending the Gore Megala against them again… but decided against it and pocketed the Disk inside her Suit. "I guess I could go a little easy on them today…" she mused before silently exiting the dungeon to where she would be searching for the Lastation Mascot.

Back with the Party, IF smirked as she held a decently sized chunk of Hematite in her hand, a chunk that was easily the size of a basketball. "Great, we have hematite now, too." She announced while placing the Hematite in her Inventory. She then looked over to Nepgear and Uni, her face morphing into one of weariness and firmness. "Have you two kids calmed down yet?"

Both Nepgear and Uni hung their heads in shame, the former now back in human form having transformed back when the Gore Megala was defeated. They looked like a couple of, like IF said, kids scolded by their elders. "Yes… I'm sorry about that…" Nepgear muttered in shame at the memories of how she lost control over herself.

Uni however, remained silent.

Taking that as a sign that things were getting back to normal, Compa stood up, apparently that short rest being enough for her to get her strength back, as she happily quipped. "Then everyone is happy and healthy!" she announced, her cheerfulness rubbing away the irritation rising in Vent's chest, and making a smile form on his lips. She just had that effect on people, making them forget any troubles that plague them with her smiles and aura alone. That Mouse was right about one thing: she truly was an angel, maybe even a seraph. "Let's go back to Miss Kei and…"

"Wait!"

'Oh geez, I already know where this is going.' Vent thought with annoyance, groaning mentally while he could hear Rasen laughing his head off. Seriously, his tenant seemed to enjoy the prospect of a fight even after big ones already happen.

"Uni?" Nepgear turned to her with confusion, tilting her head while asking the girl what was wrong. The blackette CPU Candidate had her hair shadowing her eyes, making her expressions difficult to read. That problem was soon fixed however, when she was engulfed in the pillar of light that signalled HDD's activation.

When it lowered, Uni's HDD form took place of her human one, a stone cold expression on her features as she pointed her massive Gun at the Planeptune CPU Candidate. "Nepgear, let's have a duel. If I win, I want you to hand the hematite over to me." She declared, surprising Nepgear as she looked taken aback at the declaration. If she thought that was shocking, then what Uni did next was more so. "That goes for you too, Vent, you'll also be fighting me in this duel." Uni boldly stated while turning the barrel of her Gun towards the male.

...

...

...

...

Eh?

Said male recoiled in shock at the bold statement that the girl had made. "Wait, what?!" he shrieked, nearly jumping at the green eyed girl. Vent quickly regained as much of his composure lost to the sudden development of Uni wanting to duel with him. "Why the hell would you want to duel me?!" he shouted in dismay and confusion, before gesturing to Nepgear. "Nepgear, I understand, but me? Sorry girl, but I don't see the logic…!"

A bout of mad laughter told him that Rasen was enjoying this. **'Ohohohohoho! Wow, this little lass is a brave one, isn't she master?'** he shrieked while laughing his ass off. It was only until he regained some of his composure, though chuckles still came from his psychotic tenant, that he spoke again, a clear amount of amusement in his voice. **'Thinking she could try to beat US?! Hehehehehe hahahahahaha!'**

Ignoring the crazy voice in his head, plus the indignant **'You know you like it!'** that came from deep within his mind, Vent tried to get an answer from Uni once more, but it seemed that she wouldn't be answering his questions.

IF groaned as she face-palmed herself. First it was Nepgear, now Vent was drawn into this? Like him, she too couldn't see the logic in that move, but that opinion was underwhelmed by the stubbornness of this CPU Candidate. "Jeez, you two are still going…?" she shouted in exasperation. "And why the hell are you bringing Vent into this?"

"I need to defeat you two, fair and square, Nepgear, Vent." She stated, and that was all she would say right now. She had to do this, this was the only way for her to properly test her strength, to see how strong she was compared to them. Nepgear and Vent were both strong opponents, so she would have to go all in if she wanted to beat them. When she did beat them, the she wold have proven to herself that she was strong enough to go rescue her older sister, and the other CPUs while she was at it. It wasn't like she cared about Nepgear's safety, nor did she care about Vent at all, nope, not at all.

Nepgear looked into Uni's eyes, searching for the meaning behind those words. While she mostly didn't want to fight against a fellow CPU Candidate, she couldn't afford to lose, not again. IF's words, along with Vent's actions while said girl spoke those words, played in her mind, reaffirming her desires. She looked into Uni's eyes and saw the earnest and determination in them, finding them very familiar. She soon realised why, they were the same as hers, especially after IF's pep talk. A wave of resolve swelled inside her chest as she closed her eyes in preparation. "I see." She whispered under her breath, but Uni heard it, and the determination behind it. When Nepgear opened her eyes again, they were the determined eyes she held when she first transformed after IF's pep talk. "I accept your challenge."

Both girls looked to Vent, earnest and expectant gazes in their eyes. The male frowned, quickly realising the same things Nepgear did when looking into Uni's eyes. This was happening, whether he wanted it to, or not. Thus, with great reluctance, Vent accepted this situation in his mind and heart while stepping forwards, his hands at his sides as his left eye turned into its Kakugan form, his Koukaku and Ukaku Kagune manifesting once more. OVERDRIVE activated on mental command and the Faceplate and Visor slid onto his face, locking together to form his helmet. "Alright then, I'll accept as well, Uni."

"What are you doing, Ge-Ge, Ven-Ven?" Compa asked with shock and confusion. The two had been adamant about getting the hematite to Kei for he info on the Mascot's location, so why were they agreeing to this when it'll just waste time? She didn't understand it at all, and looked to them for answers.

However, the answer came from RED, who placed her hand on Compa's right bare shoulder. "Let em be. This is a battle between star-crossed wifeys and Vent. Do your best, my wifey Goddess and the man." She declared, before trying to jump onto Compa's back. Sadly, IF prevented this by smacking her upside the head.

A look of gratitude overcame the Lastation CPU Candidate's features as she held her Gun in position. "Thanks for understanding." She said softly, and Vent could have sworn he saw a small upturning of her lips for a moment, but forgot about it when her face retained that serious expression. "Don't you dare go easy on me! I won't forgive you if you do." She shouted, her instincts as a fighter kicking in plus her own pride.

Both Vent and Nepgear understood this, the former releasing all of his Kagune types to show that he was taking this seriously. "I don't have any intention of holding back." Nepgear began. "I won't…." she then transformed into her HDD state, holding her Gunblade at the ready while Vent jumped to the side, Rinkaku helping him land safely before each Kagune pointed themselves at Uni. "I won't lose ever again!"

That was the start of the battle as Uni floated backwards, aiming her massive Gun and firing several rounds at Nepgear. The CPU Candidate for Planeptune responded by strafing to the side, aiming her Gunblade before firing a series of energy blasts. Uni generated a panel below her to propel her into the air and over the blasts. Aiming her Gun again, Uni made to fire when a shadow looked over her.

Eyes widening when she realised who it was, she quickly strafed to the side, voiding a Koukaku Blade from Vent, who twisted around in the air and sent his Rinkaku at her in a flurry of whipping motions. Uni managed to dodge and block them, until she saw Nepgear closing the distance between them. She quickly broke away from the male's Kagune and opened fire on the other CPU Candidate.

This forced Nepgear to alter her flight course so that she was circling around her, until she saw an opening and aimed her Gunblade at Uni's back, firing several rounds. Uni of course, managed to didge it just in time, but this served to benefit Vent well when he launched his Bikaku at her, wrapping the limb around her right foot before swinging her above his head like a lasso, before sending her to the ground with a crash.

Vent's eyes narrowed at the smoke, putting his Kagune on guard in case of any surprises. 'Where is she… where is she attacking from…?' the male thought, and soon got his answer when several green blasts came out of the smoke… headed for Nepgear. The male quickly dove towards where the blasts came from, intending to spear where he thought Uni was standing with his Rinkaku.

Sadly, he only hit solid ground.

'Tch she dodged me.' He thought, before he quickly felt danger behind him and narrowed his eyes, his Bikaku arching itself over him to block several blasts. His eyes widened however, when he suddenly felt all mobility stripped from him, yellow sparks dancing from his form indicating what had happened. 'Tsk, she used PARALYSIS SHOT!' she realised.

Up above the smoke, Uni smirked at the fact her plan had worked. She knew she wouldn't be able to take Vent on directly, so she had devised a plan to let him get close to her, create that smokescreen by knocking her down to the ground, and then took advantage of it to launch a wordless PARALYSIS SHOT.

Now she had to deal with Nepgear before Vent could recover from that attack. Then, she would be able to deal with him herself. While together they were formidable, apart they were much easier to handle.

She quickly pulled out of her thoughts when Nepgear flew down at her from above Uni realising that she was too close to fire any rounds at her. Uni raised her Gun and blocked the initial attack, but Nepgear wasn't done yet. "SLASH WAVE!" she quickly swung upwards, and Uni's eyes widened in surprise at the activation of a Skill at close range. She barely avoided the direct attack, but a gash opened up on her right shoulder, indicating that she didn't escape unscathed.

"Guh!"

A gasp tore from the lilac haired girl as she quickly became alarmed at what happened. "Ohmygosh, Uni, are you okay?!" Nepgear cried, momentarily breaking her serious composure when she saw the damage done to her by her Skill.

The blackette CPU Candidate gritted her teeth, using her Share energy to close the wound so she wouldn't have to worry about the bleeding as she glared towards the other CPU Candidate. "I'm fine! Don't think this is enough to bring me down, Nepgear, because you're wrong!" she proclaimed boldly, before lifting her Gun and aiming at her. "VENOM SHOT!"

A large bullet, encased with this purplish black smoke, flew out her Gun towards the other girl, who quickly swerved to the side, avoiding it just by the skin of her teeth. She didn't want to know what effects that bullet would have had on her, even though its name gave plenty of implications.

The fact that she was so focused on avoiding the VENOM SHOT made it impossible for Nepgear to see the incoming bullet that was glowing with yellow sparks. By the time she did notice it, it was too late and she was hit dead centre in the chest. The Bullet's power quickly took effect, paralysing her and inhibiting her mobility. "Oh no!"

Uni grinned as she aimed her Gun at the immobilised Candidate. "Hah, it worked! Now, you're within my range!" She bellowed with a triumphant gleam in her eyes. 'I did it, I've won! I've grown strong enough to free you, Noire!' she cheered in her mind, the sense of success was strong within her, she could practically taste it on her lips. Finally, all these doubts and emotions warring within her would settle, and then she could convince Kei to let her go save Noire! With these thoughts in mind, Uni began charging up her strongest Skill yet: EX MULTI BLASTER. The barrel of her Gun began to glow as it aimed down at Nepgear, who was struggling to break free from the Skill's effect to dodge and failing epically. "EX: Multi-"

"Didya forget about me?!"

"Eh?" Uni blinked when she heard a masculine voice, and then she cried out a second later when something hard slammed into her from behind, sending her crashing to the ground. Fortunately, there was no smokescreen so Uni could see her attacker, though it was unfortunate since she couldn't hide whichever Skill shot she was going to use on them.

Looking up, she saw that, to her dismay and shock, that it was Vent his Ukaku unfurled ad keeping him in the air while his Rinkaku twitched dangerously, as if it were restraining itself from ripping her a new one. To make things worse, it looked like he was fine, no longer under the effects of her PARALYSIS SHOT. "What the- Vent?! How?!" she shrieked, pointing a finger at him and giving a furious glare at him. However, deep down, Uni knew that she was in trouble. "How the hell did you escape my Sill so quickly?! It should have lasted another 5 minutes!"

Vent smirked behind his helmet, his Koukaku blades crossing in front of him as he did the same with his arms. "You did hit me, that's for sure but look closer, you'll get your answer." He told her, intentionally being vague to see if she would catch on. That Skill shot was indeed powerful, and if it weren't for Rasen's quick thinking then Vent was sure he wouldn't have escaped the way he did.

Uni apparently did catch on, after a moment of examining him that is. She noticed that aside from his Ukaku, Koukaku and his Rinkaku, his Bikaku was shaking and twitching like crazy, yellow sparks erratically flying from it. Her eyes narrowed as she caught onto what he had done. "You… don't tell me you…"

Seeing that she had gotten it, Vent released a chuckle as his Rinkaku held his Bikaku like a cat trying to lick its tail clean, stroking it gently while sparks constantly flew from it. "Yep, got it in one, girlie. What you hit was my Bikaku Kagune, not my main body. Because you hit it, I was able to isolate the Skill within it, keeping myself free and the rest of my Kagune safe. If you'd fired that shot several times and managed to hit me, or hit my main body, I would have been in more trouble."

His eyes narrowed behind his Visor as he let his Bikaku fall to the ground. "But enough chitchat, I gotta pay you back for that stunt you pulled." He held out his right hand and allowed 3 Tentacles to converge around it. Streams of Negatron poured from the tips and began spiralling together in the centre of his palm, forming a Sphere of black energy with a flaming red outline in his hand. The energy spiralled in the centre, like a whirlpool. Lightning sparked occasionally from the sphere, crackling through the atmosphere almost violently, their red lights illuminating the teen's closed visor.

Her danger senses kicked into overdrive when she saw that attack in his hand. Instinctively, Uni realised the threat that attack posed, and while she had no idea how it was used, she didn't want to risk anything. Thus, she spun a canister on the side of her Gun, setting it to rapid fire mode, before lifting it up and aiming at Vent to fire a rapid barrage of bullets his way, trying to take him down before he could finish his attack.

Meanwhile, Vent just sighed as he swooped down towards her like a Falcon, his Rinkaku batting away the shots as he kept the sphere in his hand in shape by spiralling the energy constantly. It was beyond difficult to do, and he was sure as hell going to have a headache after this, but it would be worth it. 'Being an Otaku certainly has its advantages for inspiration for attacks. The Koukaku around the arm holding the Sphere had reformed itself into its gauntlet form for space, and to help keep the Negatron in its current shape.

The male finally landed in a one legged kneeling positon before Uni, whose eyes were filled with horror at what was to come next. His smirk would have become shark-like if this were any normal enemy, but it wasn't. Fortunately, this was the first time he used this attack, so its maximum power wasn't put into it, and this wasn't a real life-or-death battle. She'd live after this, but her pride maybe another story.

"RASENGAN!"

With a war cry, Vent dashed forth, slamming the Sphere, his RASENGAN, into the girl's gut. Uni screamed in intense agony, feeling the attack twist and contort her insides to do massive damage, until the attack exploded, sending her crashing into the side of the platform.

It was a good thing that her body was able to reinforce her damaged gut with share energy just seconds before impact, otherwise that attack would have ended her instantly.

'Do you think that attack was a bit much? I man, in the Naruto Wiki it said that the RASENGAN in its incomplete form grinds into the target, messing up their insides and propelling them away along its trajectory, before it bursts to cause potentially lethal damage.' Vent thought with worry, it wasn't his idea to add an incomplete RASENGAN to his list of Skills, for it was Rasen's, just after the paralysis took hold on his Bikaku.

His Tenant was slightly sadistic, especially with his lack of concern for Uni's wellbeing.

In addition, Vent was sure that fanboys of the franchise would crucify him alive for using an attack that took a week for the main protagonist Naruto to master, and 3 years for his father to create. Also spoilers for those who haven't watched the anime or read the manga. He'd used it once and got it right the first time, but unlike those two, Vent had lots of anime knowledge to help him, plus he had Rasen who helped him with the control. They'd have to train so Vent could control it better, and then they could see about adding an element to it.

 **'** **Pft, don't get your knickers in a bunch, master.'** He replied, waving off his concern dismissively. **'That girl's body was able to send Share Energy to her gut at the last moment. She's alright, but I can't say the same for her pride.'** Vent could then feel the grin form on the insane voice's non-existent features. **'Also, don't tell me you don't want some of those shounen moves added to our arsenal, master. I'm you so I know you have a secret appreciation for some of them.'** The male had nothing to say to that, because it was true, aside from Tokyo Ghoul, Vent did have a love for shounen Anime, and the moves used in them.

Otaku's who use their knowledge to their advantage in battle were dangerous in many forms. Not only could they mould their energy to mimic deadly attacks they'd seen, but they were more open-minded than average warriors. If one gives them, a powerful energy source and the possibilities were nearly endless.

Like Rasen had said though, it wasn't long before Uni stumbled to her feet, getting back to her floating positon with a hand on her stomach, which was covered in severe burns from the attack. Vent winced, he'd have to apologise to her for that when he got the chance. "Uhhhh… for wat its worth, apologies for that, its sorta untested and…" he tried to say, only to stop when Uni glared at him.

"Shut it, don't think I'm down just because you got a good hit in!" she shouted, gripping her Gun tightly as she held it before him while wincing at the pain her gut was in. Thanks to the weight of her weapon, her Gut was burning up in protest, but she couldn't show that right now, it would be weakness and she wouldn't allow that.

She didn't want to be weak, she wanted to be strong… strong…. Strong…

Uni growled as she once again charged a PARALYSIS SHOT and fired at him. However, Vent was able to get out the way by pivoting to the left, the shot sailing past him harmlessly and exploding on some empty space behind them.

He then twisted his side and sent 3 Tentacles towards Uni, intending to impale her. 1 came from above while the other two flanked her from her respective sides. He saw her dodge them by jumping back, so he twisted his hips the other way and sent the other three at her while retracting the first 3 and spinning them together, making a single larger version of one.

This time, Uni fired normal bullets at the Tentacles, deflecting the away from he. A shadow loomed over head, and Uni looked up to see the larger Tentacle about to slam on top of her with its tip twisted around in a circle from overhead. Uni would never admit it even under pain of death, but at that moment she had squeaked like a terrified little girl, before rolling out of the way just as the Tentacle came crashing down, breaking the ground where she had once stood.

Seeing his chance, Vent jumped at her with his Ukaku swinging forwards, propelling him further as he raised his Koukaku blades, the one he had changed for the RASENGAN having returned to its default blade form, and slammed them in an X slash motion down on her. Uni barely raised her Gun in time to block it, cracks spreading slowly from the points where the blades connected to it.

He then broke off and did a reverse upward slash with one blade, before using the momentum to spin into a thrust with his opposite blade. Afterwards he thrusted the second blade before swinging both in a double scissor slash, not letting up on his attacks. Uni barely deflected the first slash in time, and she had to pivot to avoid the second one. She bent her back backwards to avoids the third attack, and managed to strafe backwards to get away from his double scissor slash.

But that didn't mean she saw out the range of his Rinkaku, which had dug into the ground to attack her from below. Faint rumbling was her only warning, and Uni had to dodge as if her life was on the line to not get hit by them. She made to raise her Gun to strike at him, but then Vent bent his legs as if he were crouching like a frog, his blades facing the ground as his Ukaku spread its full length. Uni's eyes widened at what that meant. 'Oh shit!'

That was all she could think before she had to fly to the skies above to avoid a Shower of Negatron enhanced shards. 'Tsk, this isn't good…! I'm running low on power thanks to this guy hitting so damn hard.' She thought, wincing at the amount of power she had left after she repaired the cracks on her Gun with her energy. The damage to her gut was mostly a dull ache at this point, but she didn't think that it wouldn't contribute to her defeat. That attack had caught her by surprise completely, since Vent had never used it beforehand. 'I just have to get one good shot, enough to finish him for good.'

With that plan in mind, Uni made to circle around the male, who managed to take to the skies with his Ukaku. He twisted around to launch his Rinkaku, only to abandon that plan when a rain of bullets came his way and instead crunched his Rinkaku in front of him to defend himself.

'Chance!' Uni thought with glee, seeing the Tentacles having protected their master from the attack and thus were unable to attack her for this short moment. She aimed her Gun and prepared her strongest Skill once more, this time aimed at Vent. 'Since Vent is obviously more powerful than Nepgear, I'll just have to beat him if I wanna be strong enough to save Noire!'

That was her thought process on the issue… and it was shattered when Nepgear suddenly came into her vision, her eyes hard and steeled with determination. "Wha-?!" was all Uni could say before she suffered another injury in the form of a diagonal gash from Nepgear's Gunblade.

"This is it, Uni, I'm using my full power! Hyah!" Nepgear cried as she flew forth towards her, her Gunblade shining as she prepped too activate MIRAGE DANCE. The paralysis from Uni's PARALYSIS SHOT had worn off around the time where Vent had used that Skill, the RASENGAN, she believed he called it, and thus she had been waiting for her chance to strike. Uni had been so focus on taking down vent, who was by far the strongest member of the Party, that she didn't notice her attack till it was too late.

Her Skill activated and Nepgear bombarded Uni with her slashes, sliding past her after dealing the last blow that ended her Skill. She then activated another Skill to compliment her previous ne, spinning around with her Gunblade pointed at the air behind her. "SLASH WAVE!" she called out the name of her Skill and sent an energy trail through the air at Uni's back.

The CPU Candidate for Lastation cried out in agony as she was sent spiralling to the ground in a heap, her HDD being the only reason why she was still unconscious. She quickly figured out what had happened and cursed herself for thinking that her Skill would be able to keep Nepgear downed until she dealt with Vent. "Tch, damnit, this isn't…" she began to say until she sensed a build-up of Share Energy above her, and felt all colour drain from her face. 'Oh no…'

Rolling to her side so she could look up at the source, Uni saw that her fears were confirmed, the source of the share energy being Nepgear's Gunblade. The tip of its barrel was glowing a bright lilac colour, and a massive amount of energy had been pulled into it. "This is it, Uni. I apologise that it came down to this, but you were the one who forced me to use this. SHARE CANNON!" She called out the name of her Skill, a Skill she had been developing herself in secret. She hadn't gotten many chances due to their quest for the Mascots and other disturbances. However, Nepgear had found time on their journey to train and learn how to make new Skills, Skills she hadn't thought possible.

Finally, her Gunblade fired a large, and seriously, a LARGE lilac flaming meteor-like bullet in Uni's direction. The white haired CPU Candidate tried to move out of the way, knowing that she would be toast if that attack hit her, but when she tried to move, to her horror Uni found that she couldn't. The reason soon became apparent when she saw a familiar set of Tentacles having erupted out the ground and restrained her, preventing her from escaping.

Shifting her gaze upwards, Uni looked into the flaming meteor… before closing her eyes and bracing herself for what was to come.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

* * *

The following eruption of energy was like a sky-tall supernova, limited in space to the area where Uni was of course, Nepgear didn't want to get Vent or her friends caught in the shockwave of the last so she had aimed it that way. She watched the massive lilac supernova-like explosion with a mix of awe and sadness. She felt sad that she had to use a Skill she had been making to save her sister on someone who had the same goal as her, despite the methods she employed.

However, she felt awe because of the power she could feel from the explosion, power that signified how far she had gotten in her training. A surge of pride overcame her, and she smiled brightly. This was proof that she was getting stronger, and while she was nowhere near strong enough to fight against ASIC directly, yet, she could feel her strength increasing, something that felt… grand… to her.

Unfortunately, there was a downside. Because of the explosive power this Skill had, it took a lot of power from her reserves to use. At full power, she guessed she could only use this skill 3 to 4 times. Because she wasn't at full power when the fight first began anyways, thanks to that Gore Megala, she felt like she had only one shot left before she would run out of energy and fall unconscious. Thankfully, she wouldn't have to this time, as her attack had indeed connected.

Soon, the power began to dissipate, revealing an entirely battered section of the platform. The ground looked more like a junkyard, the platform's safety railing was in tatters, and a beaten and bruised Uni, back in human form, lay twitching on the ground. The twitching relieved Nepgear, as it proved to her that Uni was still alive from that attack. Nevertheless, Nepgear slowly descended until she was hovering above the ground, then transformed back into her human form.

The light from her reversion had roused the weakened Uni, whose eyes slowly opened with a pained grimace. It twisted into a distraught expression as Uni slowly got to her knees, looking down at the ground as defeated thoughts swirled around her mind. "I lost…" she mumbled in depression, clenching her fists on her lap. "I'm still too weak…"

"I win!" Nepgear exclaimed, shamelessly as all hell, as she slowly walked towards the defeated Uni, stopping 10 paces away from her. She then turned her attention to Vent, who was walking towards them from another side with his Kagune in bad shape. His Tentacles looked like they lost a portion of their flesh, his blades were vaporised down to the armour around his arm, and his Wings were in tatters. "Are you alright Vent? Did the energy hit you, too?!" she asked in a panic, fearing the worst.

The male shook it off however, already feeling his RC Cells beginning to repair the damage. "Nah, I'm good Nepgear, this is nothing. I have enough power left to repair what was damaged." He told her in a placating manner, getting an assured sigh of relief from the CPU Candidate of Planeptune. His brows furrowed when he glanced to Uni, seeing her battered state and feeling a pang of guilt about his part in that. "Still though… that was a rough battle."

Nepgear nodded her head in agreement, a sombre look falling onto her face as she held her hand over her chest. "It was… I lost more power than I expected too… but it had to be done. I bet Uni would say the same thing." She then looked back to their defeated opponent who was glaring heatedly at them. "Right, Uni?"

Said girl just huffed and looked away, crossing her arms in typical Tsundere fashion. "H-Hmph, I let you win, of course." She boasted, and while Vent and Nepgear frowned in unison, they could tell she was just trying to salvage what pride she could. Thus, they didn't say anything in response to that remark. She then pointed her finger at them with a toughened look in her eyes, a look that promised that she'd be back for a rematch. "But I'm only gonna do that once, you get me?!"

Afterwards, she managed to gather what little power she had left for one last transition into HDD, although she couldn't manifest her Gun anymore thanks to her lack of energy, so fighting in that state was impossible for her. While trying not to show her true feelings, Uni took to the skies and headed back to Lastation, away from the ones who had thoroughly beaten her.

Compa walked up to the two from behind, with IF following suit. Both had concerned looks on their faces at the outcome and the atmosphere that the battle generated. "Is this really what you wanted to do, Ge-Ge?" Compa asked with concern, concern shared by Vent.

Turning to her, Nepgear aimed a look that was a mix of sadness and confusion at her. "I… don't know…" she replied, before shaking her head and looking back to their adversary. "… Uni."

* * *

 **Chapter end**

 **Well... Uni got owned, hence the title.**

 **read and review! :)**


	22. Chapter 22 - The Mascot's Location

**Chapter 22 - The Mascot's loctation**

Her power was exhausted the moment Uni left the Dungeon, so she had to transform back to human form and walk on foot back to Lastation. She had so many emotions warring within her more so than she ever had before. There was rage, frustration, sadness and defeat, each in great quantities.

But the biggest emotion right now was foolishness, foolishness for even thinking she could take Nepgear and Vent on in a fight when they weren't even at full power, having just beaten an extremely powerful Abnormal like the Gore Megala. So much self-loathing was within her at the thought of her foolishness, it felt like a real bitchy move challenging them like that. She had assumed she would be able to take them down when they were weakened, but apparently they were still strong enough to whoop her ass good and hard. They hadn't held back like she had asked them, and this was the result.

While she walked back to Lastation, holding her bruised right arm s what little share energy she possessed began repairing her damaged body, Uni's thoughts drifted to Nepgear, or rather, how Nepgear had so many people following her. "She's strong, even when all by herself… but she has so many friends beside her, too." She muttered, angry and jealous tears gathering in her eyes.

There was no doubt in her mind Nepgear was strong, that last attack had lots of power behind it, and she still looked like she had more to spare. When she transformed, Uni had briefly sensed this, but that was all she needed to feel ever more outclassed by the Planeptune CPU Candidate.

Then there was the fact that she had so many comrades willing to follow her on her journey, and that was way more than what she had ever known. They were so close, they trusted each other, heck even Vent, a guy which was almost ludicrous in Gamindustri, held absolute loyalty towards her, which made this defeat feel like even worse than a kick to the gut.

Thinking about Vent made her thoughts wander to his side of the battle. "And then there's him… Vent… he's just as strong, if not more so than Nepgear. That 'Kagune' of his is powerful, able to compare with an HDD. Even by himself he was able to hold his own against an Abnormal and a Goddess. Worse… he had just as much a bond with the others as Nepgear does…"

Her emotions soon changed to self-deprecation as Uni paused her walking to kick a random pebble into the distance, a pained groan escaping her lips at the sharp spike in pain from hr move. But she didn't care about that, she hardly had any room left to care about anything else aside from her defeat at this point. "And what do I have? Just look at me, I'm… I'm..."

She failed to finish her sentence as her unshed tears fell from her face. Tears from both the despair of how lonely she had become thanks to the absence of her sister, to the weakness she felt about her lack of ability to defeat Nepgear or even whatever Vent is. She never learned the full story about him, just that he had that Kagune, and his eye turned into a Kakugan whenever he activated it or when he wanted it to.

Uni knew there was nobody around, but she just wanted to get back home so she forewent safety and made a mad dash to Lastation.

* * *

The mood the Party had while heading back to Lastation with the Hematite was not a good one. Everyone was concerned for what had happened between Nepgear, Vent and Uni. They knew that Uni's pride had taken a rather heavy blow with that battle, but in IF's words: 'what else did she expect? Fighting both a Candidate and someone like Vent, a One-Eyed Ghoul? She was just looking to get her ass kicked'. Though Nepgear did sternly reprimand her afterwards. Compa even remarked how the positions had shifted, now Nepgear was scolding IF like a child, making Vent laugh nervously and nod in agreement.

Add in RED's comments about Wifeys and you get one big clusterfuck.

Finally, they managed to reach the City, though they didn't encounter that Guard anymore. They had overheard some citizens that him and his Company were patrolling some trade routes, thus they wouldn't be around for a while, though RED did comment that guys usually don't appear much in the Neptunia games, earning a glare from Vent for her comment.

The Party arrived at Lastation's Basilicom, and almost as if they were expected to return Kei was standing at the end of the main hall to greet them. "We meet again." She greeted them as the Party walked up to her. She even had a report in her hand, one she pocketed when they were standing before her. "It seems as though you even managed to procure the materials I requested."

IF rolled her eyes at the party's surprise that the boyish Oracle knew what they were here before, before they had even said anything. She held a hand on her hip while commenting snarkily. "Big brother is watching us, huh?"

Her comment was ignored by the Oracle as she pulled the Items from her Inventory and handed them over to her. Kei took them gingerly before clicking her fingers, a man in an engineer's gear seemingly appearing at her side. She muttered something under her breath and the Engineer gave a tense nod, before taking the two materials and walking off to who knows where. They felt like… kinda like third wheels at that moment, seeing something they felt like they shouldn't.

When the man was finally gone, Nepgear decided to speak up, her voice being filled with urgency and eagerness to get their job done. "Mrs Kei, could you please tell us where the Mascot is now?" she requested, before her expressions shifted to a mix of eagerness and anxiety, forming an uncomfortable sensation in her gut. "Its's been so long—we really need to hurry…"

"If it's been so long, what's a few more moments?" Kei replied with a knowing look on her features as she cupped her chin with her right hand. "It probably won't change the situation tremendously." While the Party were wishing to get to the Mascot as soon as possible, Kei's words did do a good job of calming down their anxieties. Her behaviour indicated that they were still far away from finding the Mascot, meaning they still had some time left.

'Time that we could use to prep for ASIC's arrival when they DO find the Mascot, but hey whatever floats your boat, I guess…' Vent thought to himself, though he didn't say anything to voice his thoughts. He did this because he could see their point, but he remembered ASIC almost breaking the Planeptune Mascot when they found it. However, that was because they had 3 days' difference between them, plus ASIC had a Goddess without the limitations Histoire had, so they definitely had a lead on them.

"First, I'd like to know what happened three years ago, in the Gamindustri Graveyard."

"Oh… Right…"

* * *

Kei sighed softly, yet the relief was apparent in her voice after she heard what had happened from Nepgear's story. It had been 30 minutes, not that long, but she had indeed explained what she had been requested to explain. Afterwards, Kei showed more emotion than she had shown them since she first met them, her body relaxing while her shoulders were dropped and her head was lowered. "I see. Noire is still alive. That's a weight off my shoulders."

For the last 3 years, part of Kei had almost given up hope in that her CPU would be alright. She had heard nothing from her, so Kei had feared the worst. Hearing that she was still alive, albeit restrained in some… dastardly manner, was a relieving thought to her, though it filled her with a sense of anger towards ASIC for treating the CPUs like that.

Though her words and actions didn't earn her much sympathy from IF or Vent, who was silent while the Brunette queried with her usual snarky tone. "If you were that worried, why couldn't you have been a TAD more Co-operative?" she questioned, stressing the word 'tad' as if to refer to all the crap that they had to go through to get the materials Kei had requested of them. From fighting ASIC to the Abnormal Monsters, they ha went through a ton of crap to get them, and that whole time Kei had not once shown any emotion through it all. So, to see her like this kind of pissed her off, but she held back mostly, due to the fact that Kei did still have the information they required.

Pausing her mental relief, Kei opened her eyes and gazed at IF evenly, taking a Report from seemingly nowhere and looking it over. "You have your priorities and I have mine when it comes to saving our CPU. But for my plans to come to fruition, I needed the materials you so kindly acquired for me."

"I see…. Then in essence we're all working towards the same goal, but we're going along different paths to get there." Vent summarized, finally asserting himself into the conversation. "You're essentially saying that your end game matches ours, but with a different approach." In truth, Vent could see why Kei would do this. She didn't look like someone who had a lot of experience on the battlefield, she was a businesswoman. In addition, she was the Oracle, in charge of an entire Nation that was supposed to be ruled by the CPU. She couldn't just venture off freely like they could, so she had to find a way to play to her own strengths.

Kei looked over at him, an appreciative gleam in her eyes as she saw what he was thinking through his own calculating gaze. "Indeed, for a brute you are indeed perceptive." She began, before frowning to herself. "Hold on, I seem to have worded that wrong. Apologies for the insult." She told him, making Vent sigh before he waved it off.

"No need, its true anyways, I can be brutish when I fight." He stated, and the Party couldn't agree more. The male's reaction to the Gore Megala's intro the first time came to mind, how he would laugh madly while trying not to jump in and rip it apart.

Deciding that now was the time to restart the conversation, the Lastation Oracle reached into her pocket while clearing her throat and getting their attention. "Well, it is time for me to fulfil my end of the deal. Here." She pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket that, despite its previous location being small and cramped, was still well folded and neatly placed. Not a shred of creases inside was seen as she handed it to Nepgear. "I wrote down the last known whereabouts of the Mascot."

Nepgear gratefully took the information and placed it in her pocket, for safekeeping. She wasn't thinking about putting it in her inventory for some reason, Vent noticed, but he didn't say anything. Especially when she had that happy look on her face as she made to thank the Oracle. "Thank you very much. We can finally…"

Unfortunately, it seemed that Kei had more to say on the matter, and she spoke when Nepgear trailed off upon noticing that there was something else that needed to be said. "But let me warn you of something. Your request will most likely be denied outright." She told them.

RED frowned as Kei said those words. The way she said them indicated that she was sure of something, and what that was boggled her brain. "What does that mean?" she questioned indignantly. She didn't like the thought that their hard work would end up being thrown right in their faces. She's saved her Wifeys too many times for this to be for naught!

However, Kei turned around and began walking away, apparently she had something to do as the boyish woman had pulled out a phone and was scrolling through her messages. "You'll find out soon enough." She said off-handedly before walking away. "I wish you good luck on your next negotiation."

"Sounds real sincere, coming from you." IF remarked, her tone thick-laced with sarcasm even though she was smiling with a dark look in her eyes. Kei wouldn't have heard it since it was said after she had gone through a nearby door to some other area. Now that they had their information though, it didn't matter, they'd get to the Mascot and then they'd move on to the Next Nation.

Turning on her shoes, IF headed for the door once more. "Come on girls, we need to get a move on." She beckoned, before quickly amending her sentence when she remembered that there were more than just girls in their Party. "You too, Vent. Sorry, guess it's not sunk in yet that a guy's helping us."

Vent only groaned in dismay. He had hoped that it wouldn't turn into a thing, what with RED forgetting about him being a part of the Party, but since IF was now doing it his hopes for the future were slowly beginning to crumble. "Just… let's just go, already…" he spoke with a dull tone, his eyes dropping as he depressingly walked out the doors ahead of the party.

"Ven-Ven seems really depressed…" Compa mused in concern as she watched the young man go.

Nepgear nodded her head in agreement, before sighing. "We can apologise to him later, for now we should get to the Mascot." With her words, they all began to head off after the male, who would likely be depressed for a while yet.

* * *

They emerged outside the Basilicom and saw that Vent was leaning with his hands in his pockets against a wall, humming in thought. He looked calm, almost eerily calm, which filled RED with a sense of unease, while confusing the other girls. Their steps alerted him to their presence, like his other Ghoulish senses didn't already tell him that when he heard and smelt them.

Nonetheless, Vent looked up at them and smiled in a calm, lopsided manner. "Hey guys, you look like you've seen something you didn't want to, what's up?" he asked them, not showing any signs of being down like earlier.

"Wow, you got over that pretty quickly." IF bluntly stated with a raised brow and a somewhat concerned smirk. "You're not hiding it are you? If you want RED to apologise, go right ahead, I'll restrain her for you so she can't run." she proposed, earning a look of betrayal and a 'Why, Wifey Candidate?!" from the said redhead. However, IF went and ignored her, focusing on the male's response.

Said male responded by pulling his right hand out of his pocket and waving it dismissively, his eyes uncaring as he smiled at the girls, showing that he wasn't being bothered by the comment. "No need, I mean it's pretty normal for the opposite to be true for my gender, at least in Gamindustri, I've just gotta get used to it, right?"

Hearing his response sent a wave of relief through the girls, although RED felt a pang of guilt race through her that she tried to suppress. Smiling like she usually did, the Wifey seeker promptly hopped over him and gave him a big hug. "Well, anyways here, have a one-of-a-kind hug from this Wifey Seeker, Venny!" she proclaimed, much to his surprise as Vent's form quickly tensed, his arms held in the air as if to stop them from being trapped.

Everyone went from surprised to confused at the male's nickname RED had made, but they got over it when Vent just chuckled nervously and slowly, shakily reached downwards to pat her on the head. "Venny huh? Well, not the worst nickname I've had…" he remarked as RED broke the hug and beamed cheerily at him, totally unfazed by hugging a member of the opposite gender.

"Looks like Ven-Ven and RED are getting along alright, now…" Compa said, clasping her hands together with a wide, relieved smile on her features. "Happy friendships help keep you nice and healthy, says the Nurse."

Nepgear nodded, also relieved that the possible fallout between the two had been averted, or rather, had not been happening at all from the very beginning. She then brought them back to the topic at hand. "We should get going, the longer we wait, the more time we give ASIC to find the Mascot."

Everyone looked to be in agreement, that is until IF shook her head in denial, a pensive frown on her lips. "Not a good idea, Gear." She stated, much to everyone's surprise. Why was IF saying that the Mascot shouldn't be retrieved right now? It would have made sense if someone like RD were to say it since she only cared about finding more Wifeys, but IF? Nah, no dice.

"But why, Iffy?" Upon being asked for her reasons by a confused Compa IF raised her hand and pointed to the skies above. Everyone looked up, and soon some of them got a clue as to her reasons when they saw the darkening skies. Some Stars were also becoming visible, indicating that the day was nearly done. "Night will soon be here, so we should probably rest at a Hotel before going to get the Mascot. I'm all for going to it now, but I'd rather us be at full strength if we have to fight monsters and ASIC as well.

Vent cupped his chin, humming as he mauled over IF's words. "IF does have a point, and so far it seems that ASIC's agents are likely having as much trouble as we are, thus it'll be a benefit for us if we rest a bit. Plus, remember Planeptune's Mascot? RED probably won't since she joined when we arrived at Lastation, but we had to fight against ASIC's goons there. Chances are it'll be the same, so like IF says, we should rest and get as much of our strength to full as possible." He said, giving his opinion to the group as they all mauled over their words. The two had good points, odds were that they were going to have to get into a fight when they find the Mascot, so sleep would help a ton.

Nepgear, as the leader, thought about this for a moment, before nodding in adherence to the choice the two were making. "Alright. Let's get some sleep #YAWN# I'm pretty tired as well… today's been eventful for all of us." Everyone had to agree with her there. They were all exhausted, both physically and mentally. The whole diabolical with Uni had strained their mental strength and emotional strength, while constantly fighting Abnormals had whittled down their physical strength.

* * *

With the group consensus shifted to rest and recovery, the Party looked around for a cheap hotel to stay for the night. Fortunately, while they had been looking around for clues, Copa had come across a brochure that listed the possible hotels that they could stay at, thinking it would be useful she had popped one into her Inventory for safe keeping. In the end, the group managed to get a hotel hat was nearby ad had multiple beds, allowing them to have a safe rest, even Vent.

None of them wanted him to sleep on the couch like last time, despite his protests.

That night, everyone was deep in slumber. There were 3 beds in the chosen hotel room, so the girls had bunked up and allowed Vent to have a bed to himself. IF had partnered with Compa, while RED had practically glued herself to her 'Wifey Candidate #1' who sweat dropped, laughing weakly with a matching smile on her features, feeling a sense of discomfort with the redhead's advances.

IF had trouble getting to sleep though. This was for 2 reasons, one of them being nervousness about the following morning when they'd finally get to the Mascot. She may not have shown it, but what Kei had said about the Mascot likely declining their request for aid bothered her. They'd gone too far for their work to be pointless, and yet, this Mascot sounded like it would be more troublesome than Kei herself, and that was something that left an unsettling twist in her gut.

The second was Compa's habit of being a restless sleeper.

Finally, the brunette couldn't take it anymore and slipped out the bed that she shared with the young Nurse. She wore simple Pj's: a simple black tank top and shorts, with her hair fully let down so that it reached past her backside in length. 'I swear, is should have partnered with Gear and let RED have Compa… on second thought, no, Compa would be too innocent for RED to corrupt.' She thought to herself, wincing at the mental images of Compa unknowingly allowing RED to seduce her ad have her join her 'Wifey Harem'. Not on her watch, she would.

Slipping her bare feet into a pair of green slippers with the words 'sleeper' on them, IF opened the door to the main room and looked outside to the room's balcony, where she saw that the glass door was open. Her instincts told her EXACTLY who would be up at this time of night as a small sigh escaped her lips. 'Well, maybe someone to talk to wouldn't be a bad idea…' she thought hopefully to herself.

With that in mind, IF went to the balcony, opening and closing the glass door behind her, before looking up to, true to her hunch, see a pair of familiar pants. A wry smirk escaped her lips as she called out in a hushed manner. "Why is it that whenever we're alone it's in places like this?"

Up above her, Vent chuckled, having been playing with his Rinkaku Kagune when IF had called out to him. He looked down, seeing her form and gave sheepish grin. "Heh, hey there IF. Can't sleep?" he asked her, allowing a Tentacle to slither down and off itself to her, hanging before her like a rope.

The brunette chuckled in good humour, grasping the Tentacle which soon pulled her up onto the roof. "Yeah, kind of. I forgot that Compa's a restless sleeper, always tossing, turning and all that. Even snores." She chuckled in amusement and slight dismay at the habit her friend possessed. Afterwards, she sat down beside him, letting go of his Tentacle while its comrades encircled him. "What about you? What's crawled up your tree enough to come out here?"

Vent shook his head with a rueful smirk on his lips as he looked out into the city, knowing what she was thinking about when describing the Nurse. His Ghoul senses allowed him to hear her after all; he was just able to block her out. "Not much honestly. Back in my Vigilante days, I trained my body to rely on a certain amount of hours for sleep. I reached that limit, and thought about star gazing till got tired again."

IF nodded her head in acceptance, the two gazing out into the city. There was a warm silence embracing them, a cool dry wind blowing by that ruffled their respective hair. The tranquillity was something both of them enjoyed a slice of peace in the hectic adventure that they were on, there was only so much one could take before they snapped after all. These moments didn't come often, so they took them whenever they could.

Finally, the brown-haired woman was the one to break the silence, by starting up a conversation about something she'd been meaning to talk with him for a while about. "You know, that was good thinking, what you did back there, with Gear in getting her that gift with her fallout with Uni." She remarked, crossing one leg over the other as she raised a brow at him. "If a little suspicious. How the heck did you know that would happen between them? I mean, being observant is one thing, but what you did was something else."

Vent frowned as he looked at the woman, wondering why she would ask that question. Though, he soon pushed it to the back of his mind and gave an honest answer. "Honestly, it was mostly educated guesses. I checked her for any bodily reactions to Nepgear's comments, and guessed she had issues of her own. Then there were the conversations they had, they clued me in on how Uni felt about her sister being gone for so long, and with how she is, I guessed she would throw a fit at Nepgear. Being a Tsundere, I assumed she'd not be honest with herself and try to keep those feelings hidden, hence her freak out with Nepgear." He explained.

IF sear4ched his tone for any kind of lies or deceit, but found none. She gave a sigh and leaned back on her spot. "I see. Sorry for making you look like someone suspicious, it's just you were able to see and do things that neither me or Compa could do, and I've been in this business longer than you. Seriously, I'm a trained mercenary and I never picked up these things from her." She sighed in slight remorse as she looked down, bitterness in her eyes that escaped through her next words. "Guess I'm not that much of a merc, huh?"

"Now that isn't true and you know it." Vent spoke immediately and sternly after she said those words, electing a surprised look to form on her features as she sharply turned her head towards him. She was caught off guard by the sudden sternness in his voice, and her expression showed this. "For one, you wold have clued on to what would have happened if you saw the same things I did. Second, you weren't there when Nepgear first met and walked with Uni, so you wouldn't have known the signs even when we met up as Uni had already gotten comfortable with her. Then, there was the battles, you would have been too focused on them to notice anything, plus when Underling blindsided you," IF had to growl in annoyance and release a snort at that reminder, "you literally were unable to perceive your surroundings. So, don't cut yourself short IF, you're an amazing Agent, do not ever think otherwise. It's not allowed, you hear me?"

His words didn't just surprise IF with their passion, they also blew her mind with how they were resonating within her, bringing up points she hadn't thought of before. A small laugh escaped her lips, and she was able to stop herself from making it sound bitter lest Vent give her another lecture. She may have been cheered up by his lecture, but her pride wouldn't let her suffer another one so soon. "Alright, alright, I get your point. Thanks though, I didn't think of it like that. Anyways, back to my point, Gear really needed that you know, she deserves something good after all the shit she's had to put up with, not just with our journey but with what happened to her for 3 years straight."

Now that Vent could understand, after all even though he spent barely any time there he would be reluctant to go back there. If he were to go there, it would only to be either to save the CPUs or destroy the Deity of Sin, something large like that. Anything else, and he wouldn't go. "Well, I get you there… though I think that you would have done the same thing I did, if it were Compa."

"Eh?"

"I mean, you two are quite close, maybe in a relationship, so you'd likely do the same for her if she was down in the dumps." Vent continued, ignoring her previous reaction before opening an eye, as both had been closed when he said this, to give a teasing glance to the brown-haired woman who was spluttering in denial of a relationship between her and Compa, her face redder than a tomato.

Eventually, she was able calm herself down enough to give an irritated glare towards the male. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" she retorted, huffing as she turned her head sharply away from him. "Compa and I are friends, nothing like that. However, you got that impression I have no clue."

Vent raised his hands in a placating manner as he frantically made to apologise to her, realising that he'd ticked her off. "Sorry-sorry-sorry, I didn't mean to offend. I just thought you two were close like that since you seemed real friendly with each other." He stammered, panic written clearly over his face. "And besides, I know you hate males so I thought it was a safe enough assumption."

While she was still angry with him for thinking that she'd be in that kind of relationship with her friend, IF could see that Vent had a point. "Well… as much as I want to pummel you for that… I can see where you're coming from. Just don't think I'd do that to a friend again, alright?" she soon saw Vent nodding so fast she was not going to be surprised if his head flew off his shoulders.

Once again, their silence returned as the two gazed out into the city, immersing themselves into the calm atmosphere. This time, each had their own thoughts running through their minds. For Vent, he was making a vow to himself not to assume that his friends were in homosexual relationships so bluntly ever again, unless it was blatantly obvious. If they would react like IF had done, then he would have to be cautious lest he risk losing the respect of his comrades.

Meanwhile IF lost herself to her thoughts, thinking about what Vent had said. It was true that IF didn't hold most guys in high regard, especially the perverted pigs that tried to peep on her and other girls when they were changing, as well as the disturbed ones that sniff girls' underwear or try to lick little girls. Ugh, that was disgusting, but still, while she didn't hold men with good opinions, it didn't mean she would hate their entire gender. She just hated most of them, and for good reason.

She glanced at Vent's direction, seeing him fumble with his fingers while his Rinkaku seemed to mirror his hands' actions. They had reformed into 2 larger Tentacles with human looking hands made from flesh and armour plates their signature colours, mimicking the fiddling motions his fingers were doing. She was honestly impressed with the level of Control the male was sporting with his Kagune. She didn't know what it was like to have one of those, but she could guess it was difficult to control especially since she had asked him once what it was like, and Vent had described it as 'constantly wrestling with a Fenrisulfr on a blood rage.'

It gave a lot of insight as to how difficult it was to control. Fenrisulfrs tend to go into blood rages whenever there wasn't enough food, which would usually be because of them killing so many monsters in the areas. This wouldn't be good for travellers, so the Guild would make sure to keep watch on any Fenrisulfr sightings and issue quests to slay them whenever they had a high chance of going into that state. To control something like that, and not one but four of them at the same time…

Vent was someone she could respect at least with that level of control.

'And yet he tells me that there are Ghouls who have more control over their Kagune than him…' she thought to herself, shuddering slightly and not because of the slight increase in coldness from the winds. When she first heard of Ghouls, IF had been a little afraid of them. Usually monsters, Abnormal or not, could be beaten, just give them a few Skill attacks, a couple slashes to the right places and they explode into Particles. Abnormals may be stronger than the norms, but they went down the same way.

However, Ghouls didn't. They were immune to normal weapons, as Vent had told them after their first encounter. When she first faced that Ghoul, Tatara as Vent had called him by, IF couldn't do anything before the Ghoul used that Kagune of his to slash her arm off as well as deliver other injuries to her person. She'd never been so scared in her life when she lost her limbs. That person had casually, and potentially, ruined her career as a Guild Agent without a care in the world. The way he looked at her while he did it though was worse; it was like he was looking at a lesser being, a mere bug about to be quashed. The thought that beings like them, that normal weapons can't hurt, left her dreading the future when they would have to fight them.

Aside from that, there was something else she wanted to talk about. She couldn't talk to Gear or Compa about it, so why not him? "To be honest, there's something else, it's about the Mascot we'll be visiting soon." In all honesty, ever since he first opened up to her after the Gamindustri Graveyard, and she him, it had become much easier to talk to him about things like this. Perhaps it was because the male was similar in mindset to her that she found him to have the ability to give her answers to questions that her friends would find hard to, but she didn't care at this point. Anything would be better than bottling these feelings up.

She didn't say more, but Vent didn't need to hear any more as the complicated expression on her features was enough to realise that what Kei had said was rattling the brunette's mind. "You nervous from what Kei said? That the attempts to convince it will end in failure?" he asked her knowingly. "Well, don't be. I'm pretty sure there's no point worrying about what could happen until it's about to. If you want something to focus on, then how about the immediate problems like finding the damn thing. We have the directions; we just need to find it first. We can worry about convincing it later."

IF stared at him, stunned and gobsmacked to the point where she had the same impressions as a dead fish. Eventually she was able to close her jaw shut and regain some sense of composure from his words. "So let me get this straight, you're saying to focus on the now and less on the later?" she asked him, getting a pleased nod from the male. IF then chuckled, her shoulders moving up and down. "Heh, yeah I can get behind that. You seem to have ways of prepping for things ahead of time anyways, so I guess I can leave those thoughts to you."

With those words, IF felt like she could get some good night's sleep, so she stood up and made to head back down. "Well, I better go, moonlight is being wasted and we all need some shut-eye. I should probably get some earplugs out for Compa's snoring habits." She remarked.

Vent hummed as he decided to follow her lead, standing up a well with his Rinkaku prepping to help him get down to the balcony. "Yeah, I should too. It's been a fair time skip, so I should get some rest too. Good luck with the snore fest, by the way." He said, giving her a lopsided smirk which was mirrored by the Guild Agent.

She then got an idea just as she landed on the balcony silently, Vent following after her with his Rinkaku receding into his back afterwards. It was something she wanted to test out for a while now, starting from when she saw RED hug the male. Checking to see if he was watching her, IF found her opening and blurred forwards. Vent had little time to react before she had hugged him from behind.

"Urk…!"

The woman felt his body stiffen at the contact, all motion gone from it as she felt a churning at the spot where his Rinkaku came out from. Fortunately for her, the Rinkaku didn't manifest as it couldn't detect any KI from her. As surprising as her hug was, IF pulled away a second later, smirking teasingly at him as she made her way to her room. "Think of that as a reward for helping me back there, Vent. Make sure to get a good sleep, ya hear?"

Just as she opened the door and stepped inside, she glanced at him out the corner of her eye, and noticed how his face sported a massive red blush with his jaw dropping and his eyes shaking, filled with confusion and embarrassment. She couldn't help but grin at this, something within her felt satisfied that she had made him blush like that. Something she didn't know the identity of, but whatever it was she liked it. With those thoughts in mind, IF went back into her room, closing the door behind her.

Which left a flustered Vent to slowly and awkwardly scramble to his room for sleep, too.


	23. Chapter 23 - To the Mascot!

**Chapter 23 - To the Mascot!**

The following morning, everyone woke up and did their morning routines, each and every one of them filled to the brim with determination. Today was the day that they would finally locate the Lastation Mascot, to get its help in their cause to rescue the CPUs and save Gamindustri. There was a lot more to this day than the others, as not only did ASIC likely have a lead on the Mascot's whereabouts like they did, they probably started earlier so they had a lead on them.

Once everyone was dressed and ready to go, they all headed outside to where the directions said that the Mascot was Located. None of them doubted Kei would lie to them, as she seemed like the kind of woman who would take pride in sticking to business contracts and negotiations. It would be hypocritical of her to have lied to them about the Mascot's location at this time.

The group arrived at the Dungeon the directions specified, and all Vent could do was sweat drop at the familiar scenery. "Really…? We were just here, weren't we? Feels like Virtua Forest all over again."

Nepgear sweat dropped as well, seeing his point. The Dungeon looked like how it was when they left it. They could see the damage left behind by their fight with the Gore Megala here. "I kind of agree, it's a surprise we didn't notice it when we came here last." She commented, scratching her cheek with her left hand's index finger, a pang of sheepishness inside her stomach.

"While I agree that it's kinda stupid," IF nodded her head, sweat dropping just like the others were, well except RED who was fantasising about more Wifeys, until she became serious again. "We have a Dungeon to explore, and the Mascot won't wait for itself. Let's go hunting, everyone."

Everyone nodded their heads as they proceeded to move into the dungeon. Not several steps later though, IF and Vent tensed as they both held their arms out in front of the group. Nepgear stopped herself in time, but Compa and RED weren't so lucky as they went face-first into their arms.

"Ouchies/Owwie! Hey, what gives Iffy? You lose wifey points if I don't like the answer!"

"Quiet!" IF hissed as she looked around, glaring at the surroundings. "Something's wrong, be on guard. We may have company." She told them in a hushed whisper. Compa covered her mouth to keep quiet, while RED lost her angry face and mimicked her, although she looked like she was resisting the urge to squeal in excitement at the thought of beating monsters up.

Almost instantly afterwards, the group witnessed a sight that most did not see every day, if at all. Several black patches formed on the ground, sliding through cracks like they were alive. The patches rose up, pieces sprouting and spreading outwards as they began to take on sinister-looking forms. The Party swiftly got ready, summoning their individual weapons while Vent Switched Vier to Scythe Mode.

It took a moment, but the shapes finally finished their formations, and standing before them was 30 bipedal, wolf-like creatures. Unlike the Fenrisulfrs, these were humanoid in body shape, standing on their hind legs albeit with a slouch, as well as having muscular physiques. They were pitch black, like the shadows generated when the sun's rays couldn't get somewhere, with glowing red eyes like demons in the night. They had bone-like masks with red markings over them like tribal markings, as well as bone-like spikes protruding from their arms, back, and knees. Their hands and feet were tipped with long, sharp, white claws that gleamed menacingly as they glared at the enemy. Their nametags told them they were 'Beowolves'

"Eh?! That's new!" RED exclaimed, her Yoyo's dangling before she pulled them into her hands. She eyed the new creatures with confusion and alarm. "Never seen those beasties before."

Compa shuddered, doing her best to not look afraid of the creatures, though she felt she was failing if their glares focusing on her was any indication. "Do you think they came because of that other monster?" she asked the others, referring to the Gore Megala. She wasn't too good with names, so people cut her some slack.

Nepgear frowned, her eyes filled with confusion. "How would that work, exactly?" she wondered, trying to picture how the Gore Megala would give 'birth' since she didn't see any genitals or reproductive features on it when they fought. No matter how hard she tried though, she just couldn't picture it.

IF shook her head, deciding to get things on track by kicking the ground to get their attention. "You guys, talk later, our friends want to come and play. Let's show them a good time, alright?"

Everyone nodded in unison, and with a mighty unified cry for battle, the Party charged forth to fight the 30 Beowolves. The pack split into a circle, surrounding them before they could launch the first attack, sealing off their exits. IF quickly Activated a DEMON FLAMES Skill, burning several of them to reduce their numbers to 26.

One jumped at Nepgear from behind while she was distracted, making her cry out as she rolled to the side. She stood up and activated MIRAGE DANCE, slashing through the Beowolf that attacked her. She then jumped over another pair that tried to lariat her from multiple angles, bending her body in an almost-full circle before landing on the ground and sliding to a halt.

RED thwacked several Beowolves with her Yoyos while stepping back constantly, their claws barely missing her skin. She sweated at the constant barrage, until she got an opening and got an idea. "Heh, going through the tunnel! Niiieoow!" she ducked under a swing meant to slash her head off and slid under one of the Enemy's legs. A giddy chuckle escaped her lips as she turned around and switched to her Frisbee. "I just had to do that!"

Compa stumbled backwards, just barely avoiding a claw that would have sliced her chest open. The air waves from the strike hot her chest, making her boobies jiggle visibly, making a few flat chested girls twitch for some reason. Caught off balance, Compa cried out, startled as she fell onto her backside with a group of 3 Beowolves about to jump on her to tear her a new one.

Just as they were about to rip her apart though, the girl gasped when she saw Vent suddenly appear before her, his Scythe having swung in a wide horizontal arc to bisect the Beowolves faster than they could react, dispersing them into Particles. "You gotta watch out, Compa, these guys seem to love ganging up on you without mercy when you're careless." He advised her while twirling Vier and switching it to Gun Mode, firing several rounds to knock several Beowolves off IF and Nepgear's back.

"Y-Yessy!"

With his companion safe, Vent jumped into the fray once more, slamming his feet into a Beowolf's chest to knock it down, he flipped off it and fired at its head, before switching Vier to Sword Mode and revving it by gripping its handle. He did this while twisting into a reverse upward slash that dug through the chest of another Beowolf, spinning into the air and coming down with a slash that sliced its face in half like a banana. Switching Vier to Scythe mode, Vent twirled it in front of him, before deflecting another Beowolf's strike that came at him from behind, sending it to the ground and forcing it to crouch over, allowing him to behead the beast in one fell swoop.

On her end Nepgear, having activated HDD blasted several Beowolves with her Gunblade before blocking another's claw. Glancing behind her, she saw hat several more were advancing on her, so she created a panel on the ground that shot an upward force at her, sending her and her quarry into the air. Nepgear, now fully having the battlefield advantage plus the mobility advantage, flew through the ranks of the aerial Beowolves and slashed the life out of them, her Gunblade a blur of motion as she defeated her prey. Afterwards, she looked down at the battle below in the mists of the particles her prey had dispersed into, and saw that they were about to be overwhelmed if she didn't do something.

Luckily, for her, she had one other Skill she had been working on during training.

'It's still in its prototype phase, and I haven't thought of a name yet, but I have to try and help them!' Nepgear thought as she aimed her Gunblade down at the battling monsters below. Closing her eyes, Nepgear drowned out all outside sounds as she made to focus on her objective. Share energy gathered at the tip of her Gunblade's barrel, forming a small sphere.

At the moment she felt enough power had been gathered, Nepgear's eyes shot open and she fired the sphere. However, the sphere launched itself not as a Sphere but as a series of long thin purple energy rays. These rays were made of her energy, so when they struck the Beowolves below they did considerable damage. Not to mention the fact that they hit an apparent weak spot: the bases of their backs, electing howls of agony from the damaged Abnormals, which soon dispersed into Particles.

A wide smile formed on Nepgear's face, happiness shooting through her at the results. "Yes, it worked! There's still a few left, so the Skill isn't complete yet. I have to go down there to lend a hand." She said to herself, patting the sides of her face before she flew down to the ground to help her friends finish off the remainder of the Beowolves.

* * *

Finishing them off was an easier task than expected. With Nepgear's prototype Skill decimating their forces, the Beowolves had lost much morale, making it easier for Vent and the others to take care of them. When the last one dispersed into Particles thanks to IF's efforts, the brunette turned to the rest of them, Nepgear having returned to her human form, and gave a smirk. "That's the last of them." She announced, dismissing her Qatars back into her Inventory. She then rubbed the back of her aching neck in discomfort, grimacing. "Man, those things were everywhere, my neck's killing me." She moaned in dismay.

Compa frowned at this, not likin the thought of her friend having an injury. "Here, Iffy, this should help relieve the pain." She spoke, walking up to her and placing a yellow coloured pill in her hand. IF looked up at her with a raised brow, silently asking her what it was, prompting Compa to explain. "It's a pill derived from paralaxin, developed recently by a medicine company in Planeptune. It's supposed to dull pains, so take one. You don't need water for it, either."

IF looked down at the pill for a moment, slightly unsure of her words at first, until she trusted Compa and downed the pill. Turned out she was right, as the aching in her neck was soon non-existent, electing a relieved groan from her. "Ugh, that feels good… thanks Compa, it really helps a lot." IF thanked her friend, making the Nurse giggle cutely.

"Anyways, those monsters were strange alright… even for Abnormals." Vent commented, frowning with concern. Even for Abnormals, those things were weird, when they fought, they moved in pack formations and seemed to be aware of how to attack and separate them. It was what lead to the prolonging of the fight. "Also… did any of you get the feeling that we were being played?"

Nepgear turned to him and nodded, her eyes firm yet concerned as she nervously took a gulp. "Yeah, I did. It seemed so strange, but I feel as though those monsters were here for a purpose."

"Well, whatever it may be, those things were sure as heck easy to beat, as expected of me, RED, and my Harem!" The redhead girl proclaimed merrily, giggling excitedly. Everyone rolled their eyes, now used to her antics. They then began to move in for the Mascot, following the directions specified by the Lastation Oracle.

"Oh, Mister or Miss Mascot… Come out, come out wherever you are…" Compa called out, scanning her surroundings while holding her hands in a circle around her mouth, as if trying to make her voice louder to get the Mascot's attention. They'd scoured the dungeon in following the directions for what had felt like an eternity, but they had next to no luck in finding the Lastation Mascot.

IF huffed as she had the paper the Oracle gave the directions in, in her hand as she had taken it from Nepgear had decided to venture off to search elsewhere. Everyone had been concerned for her safety, but she assured the Party that she would be okay before leaving. "We were given legit directions…" she mumbled, reviewing the paper's info before looking around. They were now at the same platform, they had fought the Gore Megala in, and it was increasingly hazardous to travel since most of it was sticking up from the water, as a result from Vent's Negatron enhanced Bikaku Kagune. "The Mascot should be around here. I doubt the Oracle would lie, but…"

Vent crossed his arms over his chest as his eyes narrowed while they walked. "It's getting difficult to track it. My last attack unknowingly came back to bite us in the backside…" he groaned in dismay, guilt shining in his eyes as he faces palmed himself, shaking his head. "Apologies for that."

"It's alright, Vent, you couldn't have seen this coming, even with your observation skills. Anyways, lets backtrack a little, maybe we missed something…" IF began, as they turned on their heels and walked back down the Dungeon.

It was only minutes later when they saw Nepgear jogging up to them, looking like she was running a marathon. She stopped before them, taking a moment to catch her breath before she stood up straight and exclaimed. "Everyone, follow me! I found an area that resembles where we found the Planeptune Mascot!" she then ran off, and the Party soon followed suit.

* * *

They soon came to another circular platform, slightly smaller than the one that Vent had destroyed fighting the Gore Megala, but it no less had similarities to the area where they found the Planeptune Mascot. It had that ethereal glow about it, and the source was

indented into the back of the platform.

"There!" Nepgear, who arrived first as the patter of feet signalled the arrival of the others. She raised an arm and pointed it at the Source of the glow. It was bright, almost too bright for their eyes to handle, but Vent was sure of it even if he could only glance at it for a moment, that this was the Lastation Mascot. "I think that's the Mascot. Excuse me, Lastation's… Mascot…?"

The Lastation Mascot, a light bluish orb-looking thing, stopped glowing as brightly to allow them to see it without going blind. "Hmm?" At seeing that it had visitors, it rose from its resting place and hovered towards them. "Planeptune's CPU…? No… The CPU Candidate…" it wondered, before correcting itself. Vent somehow could feel its gaze as the ball shifted, as if looking towards him and registering his presence. "And you… could it be…? If so, then…."

"This Mascot is wide awake." Compa stated with relief. It was fortunate for them that unlike Planeptune's Mascot, Lastation's was wide awake, so that meant that even if ASIC did beat them here, the Mascot would likely see them coming and realise that danger was approaching, thus devise a way out of there. Fortunately, that didn't have to happen since they got here first.

Although there was a downside to this situation, one that IF was the one to point out. "It must mean that the Shares situation is a lot worse here in Lastation, than it was back in Planeptune." IF's words rung true, as back in Planeptune the Mascot was sleeping because it's aid wasn't needed yet. The Planeptune Shares weren't as low as they were in Lastation, so it made sense that the Lastation Mascot had awakened to keep the balance in the land.

"Um, so basically…" Nepgear shuffled on the spot as the Mascot for Lastation drew her gaze back to her. "We'd like you to come with us!"

Everyone gave various reactions to how blunt Nepgear had sounded. Even Vent was surprised, and it took a lot to surprise him. 'Hmmm, looks like the pressure's getting to Nepgear if she thought that would happen like that…' he thought to himself with concern, before switching his gaze back to the Lastation Mascot wondering what the response it would give.

"How sudden." The Mascot remarked, which made him flinch and Nepgear to keep her gaze on the orb as a light pulsed from it. "Do you truly believe that I would follow you without first confirming your intentions?"

Nepgear realised what mistake she made, though she remained calm and even, on the outside anyways as inside she was her usual concerned, nervous and self-doubting self. "The CPUs are all held captive in the Gamindustri Graveyard, and we need your help to save them all!" she explained, hands behind her back as she forced herself to stop fidgeting.

The Mascot hummed in thought as it bobbed up and down in front of them. It seemed to be comprehending this new information, though whatever emotions it had were unknown since it had no face to express them. "I see. I sensed unusual fluctuations, but hearing that all the CPUs are being held captive is a shock…" it then trailed off for a moment, before continuing. "If true, that only strengthens my argument to not accompany you."

'Now I see why Kei warned us about the Mascot's stubbornness…' Vent thought. He noticed that IF had glanced at him inquisitively and intently, thus he knew what she would want from him. Thus, with a sigh, the male stepped forwards and gently pushed Nepgear back towards the others. "Lastation Mascot, you're saying that because the CPUs are not present anymore in their lands that you have to remain here to keep it from falling to chaos, yes?"

Seeing him take charge, RED gained a small grin as she bounced up and down on her spot. "Awesome, the detective Venny takes the stage!" she chirped happily. She knew that the male would be able to change the Mascot's ways since he was observant and perceptive, so he must know a way to get them what they wanted.

"That is correct, young man… I cannot leave this land to fall to ruin, much is its fate should share energy vanish from it. It's what keeps the majority of the monsters inside the Dungeons. Though, there are these Abnormals that seem resistant to my power, an unfortunate occurrence made by the enemy no doubt." It bobbed up and down once before continuing. "My sole purpose is to protect this Nation during the CPU's Absence. Leaving now would cause the Nation to lose any and all divine protection yet remaining. That is unallowable. It is, after all, part of the pact we Mascots made with the True Goddess."

Vent furrowed his brows and stopped IF from interjecting with a swipe of an arm. "I see… I understand that. This pact makes your actions limited, as any intervention on your part will result in catastrophic damage to the Land, which is unallowable. However, there still must be some way for you to help, after all, when your pact was made, I'm sure the True Goddess would have made loopholes you could use to help others solve problems like this." This was a basis for agreements between businesses, there was always a level of certainty and uncertainty between them that allowed loopholes to be exploited.

The Mascot hummed as it thought about this.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the beginning of the Dungeon, a familiar figure could be seen holding a black Disk on its back, shrunken to allow its red wings to spread outwards. Several squeaky sounds accompanied the figure's stubby legs as its tail wagged behind it. "Hmm… Where is she?" Warechu wondered, looking from the left to the right and to the left again. His expression was one of confusion and earnest as he searched for a certain someone, the young 'Angel' that had helped him. "This is the only place I haven't looked around in, chuu…"

The Mouse stopped in the middle of the first circular platform and gave a depressed sigh, looking down at the ground as the image of Compa's smiling face manifested before him. "Oh, my lovely Compa… We've been apart since that day… why did I run? Damn my shyness, chu!" Warechu whined, punching the ground with his right arm, though since he lacked much muscle it didn't do much damage. Fortunately, it also worked the other way around, too, as he could punch it without being too injured himself.

A shiver then rose from the base of his spine as Warechu shivered, the illusion vanishing just as quick as he recalled a crazed, demented gaze breathing down his neck. "And hell, that crazy dude that the Boss had saddled me with is nowhere to be found, said something about going to 'hunt' alone. But hey, as long as that stuff keeps his teeth away from me, then hey he can go as crazy as he wants." The mere mention of the one that his Boss had sent to help him on his job made Warechu almost hear the chimes of church bells, as if his death was only a step away from him.

He then looked upwards, and saw a group of people standing before something glowing. One of them, ironically enough, looked like the girl he had daydreamed about since he first saw her, electing a despair-filled groan from the Mouse. "Huh? Oh, great. I miss her so much that I'm starting to hallucinate. My sweet angel Compa, chu…"

Only when the 'illusion' didn't vanish as soon as it appeared did Warechu realise something, something he didn't before thanks to the aforementioned reason. "Or, wait." His eyes bugged out in realisation. "That's no hallucination! That's Compa! My lovely angel, chu!"

Warechu's cry alerted the Party to his presence as he ran up to them on his stubby little legs. They all turned to face him as he stopped 20 metres from them. Compa was the first to speak as she recognised the Mouse that had interrupted their little talk with the Mascot. "Huh? Ooh, it's Mister Mouse!"

'Huh… its true, that's the same Mouse from earlier…' Vent thought to himself. He kept his face even, but he was internally surprised to see that Mouse again. He could hear the cackling made by Rasen in his mind, and already Vent figured out what amused him so. 'You're enjoying tarnishing his hopes, aren't you?'

 **'** **Heck yeah, Master! You should know I'm an insane psychopath who loves to take the micky out of people! Especially to those who deserve it! Hahahahahaha ahahahahaha!'** The cackles got even louder as Vent gave a mental groan at his tenant's laughing fit. He knew he had lost him for a few hours, at least.

Unaware of the mental conversation about his dignity, Warechu's eyes… gained love hearts in them as he eyed Compa dreamily, stars twinkling around his head. "You… remember me?" he placed his small arms over where his heart would be. "That makes me so happy, chu!" he squealed in bliss, with a pair of red ovals on his cheeks to indicate he was blushing.

"Not now." IF brutally stomped her foot metaphorically on the atmosphere that was being generated, and by extension the distraction. "We're in the middle of something here." She stated, hurriedly, wanting to return to their previous task before they could lose themselves.

Like a 180 though, Warechu's personality completely switched gears as he stood tall and glared heatedly at the brunette, who did her best not to recoil at the sudden ferocity that Warechu displayed. "You shut up, chu!" he bellowed. "There's nothing more important in this world than Compa!"

'Whoa, mouse actually has claws there!' Vent exclaimed in shock within his mind. He twitched his brow a second later when he heard the laughter in his head increase in volume to the level where he could possibly get a headache. 'And you, quiet down or I'll imagine a certain man and his demi clone from a certain village doing their Sunset jutsu!'

The cackles stopped after that.

Once again unaware of the conversation taking place inside the male's head, Warechu's eyes stared past the group and noticed the thing they were conversing with. His eyes flew out of their sockets as Warechu stumbled back. "Whoooooooa! I-I-Is that the Mascot?" he exclaimed in shock. 'I found it, I found it!'

"Mister Mouse, you know about the Mascots?" Compa questioned, surprised while IF and Vent narrowed their eyes. The knowledge about the Mascots wasn't common, so how did the Mouse know about them? Thinking back on it, the male remembered that the Mouse had been injured in a Dungeon, and showed signs that he had been searching for the Mascots for a long while. That could only mean one thing…

'Looks like this Mouse has a bigger role to play than I thought…'

Warechu's eyes sparked as he danced, his innocent demeanour contrasting with the words he said next. "I'm so lucky, stumbling on my Angel Compa and the Mascot! I have a great idea, Compa! Let's beat the crap outta that Mascot together, Chu!" he bellowed, happily.

The Party tensed as the Mouse stated that one of their own would do such a thing while both IF and Vent realised one thing about the Mouse before anyone else did. "Huh, beat it up…? Why would you say that?" Compa questioned worriedly, taking a step back as the girls regarded him warily, well, IRED, Compa and Nepgear did, both Vent and IF were glaring at him heatedly.

"Hey, rat… are you…?"

Ignoring IF's words, Warechu pushed his chest out in pride, although there wasn't much there to begin with. He put his arms on his hips, widened his stance and flicked his Tail behind him as he spoke with glee. "If we smash the Mascot, we'll get a reward, chu! And if you help, my dear Compa, I'll help you join ASIC as a VIP member!"

'Looks like I was right, this Mouse is with ASIC….' Vent thought, biting back a growl as he barely restrained his Kagune from releasing itself to pierce this Mouse in every place possible.

His anger simmered and was replaced by amusement when RED made an exclamation like she just figured something out. "Oh, I see! This little mousey is more like a weasel!" The way she just casually insulted the Mouse before them made a small smirk tug at Vent's lips, he liked the way RED casually stated things with no fucks given about other people's expectations. It added more flair to this groups' banter.

"Don't do something mean like that to the Mascot!" Compa shouted, before her tone shifted to one of worry. "If you do that, all of Gamindustri will…!"

Warechu made the motions of clicking his fingers before pointing his right arm at Compa, his eyes still with that excited gleam, though he was unaware of the fact that the Nurse did NOT share the same sentiment. "Exactly! Gamindustri will be one step closer to total domination through ASIC, chu! With no CPUs, and nobody left to believe in 'em, Gamindustri will be completely under our control! To summarise, my sweet angel Compa, please join us before…"

At this point Compa finally had enough. She gave a firm glare at Warechu as she waved an index finger like a lecturer at him. "Bad Mister Mouse!"

Her response cut through Warechu's delusions like a hot knife through butter, and he could have sworn that he heard the sounds of glass cracking and shattering all around him. "C-Compa…?" he stuttered, surprised, confused and a little nervous at how fierce she sounded. It almost didn't seem like the perfect picture he had of her, formed when she saved his life earlier.

"I've been travelling with my bestest friends to help save the CPUs, so…" Compa began. Her firm look gradually devolved into one of melancholy. She remembered everything that she and the girls had gone through. Her glare weakened into a nervous stare. "Th-That makes us enemies!"

Warechu looked like he had been struck by a thunderbolt at that moment, just after she had declared them as enemies. He stumbled back, his features resembling horrified realisation as his mind connected the dots. "Dun-dun-DUNNN!" He exclaimed, and was it just him, or did Vent really see the Kanji for what he said appear above his head? "Enemies… S-So, are you telling me you don't like me that way?"

"That's right, I really hate bad people, and bad monsters, and anyone that makes Gamindustri a bad place!" Compa declared fiercely, electing smiles from IF, Nepgear and a massive grin plus a nod of her head in agreement from RED.

 **'** **OOOOOOHHHHHHHHH! Savage giiiiiiiirrrrl! MEW-MEW-MEW-MEW-MEEEEW! Get the hoses out, Warechu got roaste-ed!'** Rasen cackled madly within the confines of Vent's mind, making him roll his eyes in mild annoyance at his tenant's antics. Although he couldn't help but agree, that was one hell of a way to get friendzoned. Or wait, would that be enemyzoned instead? 'I know Warechu's with ASIC, but as a fellow dude, I gotta admit, that was savage. Remind me not to ask a girl out in this world… not that I ever would.' He thought, going downcast at the thought of asking a girl out.

Warechu, ever the drama queen, made it look like he was bent backwards into an arch by some unknown force. His head literally touched the ground behind him as he put his arms over his heart with a horrified and broken hearted expression. "H-H-Hate?! You hate me?! Boo-hoo-hoo-Chu!" he shrieked. Everyone could only sweat drop when they saw him roll across the ground from left to right, thanks to Compa's rejection.

"Lookit! Its spinning like a top!" RED chirped happily, completely nonchalant about the rejection Warechu suffered. Vent could only chuckle at how the redhead had destroyed the previous atmosphere with her little comment. Only she could do that in their little group with no fucks given.

After some more spinning on the ground like, as RED said, a top, Warechu got on all fours and hung his head low, so they couldn't see his defeated expression as his mouse body shuddered and quivered. "No, no, no, no! My tender heart is shattering to pieces, chu…" he whimpered, and even though Vent hated his guts for working with ASIC, the male couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the Mouse. "All my love will go to my job then…"

Warechu then stood up and pulled the Disk from his back before holding it high, his expression one of determination… which was ruined by the tears in the corners of his eyes. "That said, I'm gonna get rid of you all in the name of ASIC, chu!" The Disk began to shine brightly, and when the light faded, a 'Fenrir' which basically looked like a Fenrisulfr clone, appeared beside him, glaring at the Party with intent to kill.

IF scoffed as she summoned her Qatars. "So much for that delusional drama. Let's take out the trash, Gear, Vent." She called out to the two.

The male nodded, grinning with bloodlust as he switched Vier to Scythe Mode. "Heh, aw yeah, 've been looking forward to kicking some ass." He remarked casually, twirling Vier like a wheel before resting it on his shoulder like a gangster.

Nepgear however, looked like she was not expecting this, as she blinked several times before noticing the situation. "Huh? What the goodness? When did an enemy appear?" she exclaimed in surprise.

Both Vent and IF gave a collective sigh at this. Nepgear had been so focused on the Mascot that she hadn't noticed any of the drama that had taken place not a second ago. Thus, when prompted to draw her weapon, she had fumbled about for a bit before finally summoning and activating her Energy Sword. "Man, you really do get tunnel vision when you're focused on something. C'mon, it's about to charge!"

"Chuuuuuuu!"

The Fenrisulfr made to charge at them at last, starting yet another long ass battle…. Or so they thought, as Vent suddenly slammed his Rinkaku Kagune into the ground, then made it appear underneath the Fenrir and impaled it several times over. One even wrapped around Warechu's waist and pounded him into the ground so fast that his form was a blur, head first, before finally slamming him into the ground. Moans escaped his lips as he laid there while the Fenrir gave one last cry of pain before dispersing into Particles.

Everyone glanced at Vent whose Rinkaku pulled itself out the ground, dispersing with the rest of his Kagune. The male then noticed their stares and tilted his head in confusion. "What? The readers won't like long, drawn out battles all the time you know. Sneak attacks are fun, sometimes. Plus, we're practically at the end of this chapter, so that wouldn't work." He commented casually with a wave of his hand, as if talking about the weather. This caused them to sweat drop once more. "Also… TROLOLOLOLO!"

Thoroughly defeated, and by a guy's Tentacles no less, Warechu couldn't think of another time he had been more humiliated. Even with his body's ability to reduce damage done to him, those attacks had hurt, hell he felt his head was about to split apart from that pounding. Shakily raising his arms, Warechu tried to push himself upwards into a standing position, his body quivering and rattled with pain from the sneak attack. "Oof, I lose the game of love… I fail at my job…. And to top it off, I'm beaten before I could showcase my skills… this is the worst day of my life, Chu!" he weakly whined.

He slowly made to turn around and leave, when suddenly something shifted in the atmosphere. "Awww, ya gonna make me cry, mousey! Hope ya didn't think this was over, because I'll be SO DISAPPOINTED if you did." A Masculine voice, one that made Vent pale with dread when he recognised it. He knew it was a Ghoul, it was the WHO aspect that was the problem. There were several Ghouls that he feared even when reading about them in the wikis and the Manga. Tatara was one of them, and another would be…

"Seidou Takizawa…!"

Not a second later, did a figure jump out from behind cover and land before them.


	24. Chapter 24 - A Ghoul, bitches!

**Chapter 24 - Seidou's here, bitches!**

"Aw, you're making me blush, I don't like blushing ya know, but hey whatever floats your boat, eh dude?"

The figure remarked in a sarcastic, cruel sneer as it walked towards them, silence overtaking the area. Everyone recognised this sensation, well, everyone who'd fought against Tatara anyways. This was the sensation they got whenever they fought against the ultimate predator of humanity, a creature that they were not and could not ever be prepared for: A Ghoul.

As for the figure, the figure was a young man, apparently in his early 20's. His Posture was stuck in a monotone, which made his presence all the more frightening, especially to Vent. His hair was white and was clearly unkempt like he had no regard for how it looked, its length past his chin. His fingernails, toenails, and lips were charcoal black in colour, a deep contrast to his near-pale skin. He appeared to be tired, due to the dark circles underneath his eyebrow-less eyes. Clad in all black, he donned loose-fitting robes with wide, elbow-length sleeves that had a white symbol on the hood. He wore pants fitted below the knees and had wraps around his feet exposing his toes.

Seidou Takizawa, Vent knew his story. Once a human, he was captured by the Ghoul Organisation Aogiri Tree, and experimented on eventually becoming an artificial One-Eyed Ghoul. Before the transformation, Seidou had a very straight-forward and earnest personality, being a relatively normal young man. He held strong admiration for his exceptional superiors, prone to fawning over them and admitting to collecting newspaper clippings of Arima's cases. A fan boy of his superiors, one could say. He was very excitable, both in terms of stuttering in excitement or becoming high-strung when agitated.

However, he also held deep desires to be respected and placed considerable importance on seniority both in terms of rank and age. This leads to fighting with his Co-workers when he does not earn the respect he feels is owed to him, and he is easily upset when out-shined by those he considers his peers or younger associates. When disappointed or frustrated, he is prone to pouting or acting gloomy for long enough for others to comment on it.

In this manner, he was regarded as somewhat immature but not particularly malicious or mean-spirited. However, his rivalry with one Akira Mado, a fellow co-worker he went to the CCG Academy with, tended to bring out the worst in him and they are rarely able to interact without bickering. He was easily frustrated with her or the equally exceptional Juuzou Suzuya, but ultimately admitted their superior talents and does express concern for them when things are serious.

Though he talks himself up, in reality he had always harboured considerable doubts about his abilities when it comes to actual combat. He constantly puts up a brave front, asking for field work to engage combat with ghouls. However, when actually faced with the reality of live combat and possible death, he breaks down and is overcome with feelings of fear. Even so, his commitment to his duty and comrades is stronger than any fears or doubts he might harbour.

But that was BEFORE his transformation, afterwards it was a whole different ball game. Vent had read the manga and knew that Akira and Amon managed to restore his sanity, but for some reason the look he had now indicated that wasn't the case. That made him all the more dangerous, to the point where Vent feared for the safety of his comrades should they get too close.

Warechu paled as he looked to the new arrival. He shuddered at the sidelong glance Seidou had given him briefly, before saluting him and acting perfectly respectful, sweat dripping down his forehead like bullets. "O-Of course, I-I-I'm sorry, it's just my angel Compa, she and I-" he began.

This was halted when Seidou began to bark in laughter, holding his gut as he doubled over. The Party watched on with confusion, while Vent shuddered in fear. He never liked what became of Seidou after the transformation, and it looked like he was back in that state for some reason. A lot of reason to worry for their safety. By the time Seidou could speak again, he wiped a tear from one of his eyes and gave a snarky grin to the Mouse. "Hahaha, apologies, nah not really, but the thought of a filthy rat like you having affections for a human is just comical. It's so comical that I almost bust a gut from laughing."

Everyone narrowed their eyes at the man as he chuckled still, uncaring of the anger and humiliation Warechu was showing. "That's mean… he shouldn't be insulting someone's feelings like that…" Compa muttered, a pang of sympathy inside her heart. Which was ironic, considering how she was the one who shattered it. The look that IF sent her conveyed that she thought this of her comrade.

"Uh, who's the weirdo in black? Is he some sorta bodyguard?" RED asked cluelessly, tilting her head in confusion. If this were an anime, she would have had question marks popping in and out above her head like flashlights. She looked like a kid who had asked, in her mind, an innocent question. Though, if the rapidly paling faces of the girls was any indication, she shouldn't have asked it like that.

A mistake she soon realised and regretted, when Seidou suddenly was before her with his hand around her head, gripping it firmly as he lifted her just above the ground so her feet dangled over it. She struggled to break free, kicking the air rapidly, as Seidou laughed mockingly at her efforts. "Awww, is the little reddy afraid of a little 'physical'?" he taunted, before slamming RED 's head into the ground hard enough to leave a crater.

"Lemme make you feel a WHOLE ton better, then, hussyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

He then jumped and threw her back down, coming down and slamming his kneecaps into her back, while also smashing his fists into her shoulderblades, the sounds of bones cracking into pieces filling the air.

RED let out an unholy scream of pain from that, eyes wider than dinner plates as a trail of blood exploded out of her mouth, before he leaned down, bearing his crazy sharp fangs, and chowed down into her shoulder blade, using this as a form of grip to spin her around before launching her away. RED's form crashed into the platform's side. "Ya should probably think about keeping that trap of yours shut, littln'." He sneered, wiping the blood from his bite from his mouth with his right hand, before licking it and giving a moan of satisfaction. "Hmmm, tastes just like jelly…"

Watching this event unfold onto one of their comrades, each of them had their own horrified reactions.

Compa: To cover her mouth to suppress a scream like a murder victim just being discovered at that moment.

Vent: His eyes bulged open, his breath getting caught in his throat as his ears burned the recording of RED's screams and howls into his mind.

Nepgear: fear and utter terror shined in her eyes, unhindered by conflict like she usually would have. Nothing but fright of the sight before her could be seen in her eyes right now.

IF growled in anger, while the entire party was raring to go face this man to avenge their friend, who was now unconscious with a bleeding hole in her shoulder. Despite their fury and desires to exact vengeance, none of them made a move. The memory of how Tatara wiped the floor with their asses flashed though their minds, so they knew not to go in recklessly.

"Compa, please go help RED. She'll need to have her wound tended before she loses too much blood." Vent commanded as he stepped forwards, his Kakugan activating as Vier returned to Ring Mode. He glared hatefully towards Seidou as Compa nodded, scampering off to where RED had fallen to begin healing her. He spoke again without looking at the girls, taking charge while the Lastation Mascot hovered just over the edge, a spectator watching how this battle would play out. "IF, make sure to cover her in case any attacks come her way. Your weapons can't damage Seidou's flesh, I'm sure you know why by now." IF nodded as she made to go after the young Nurse, keeping an eye on Seidou to make sure he didn't try anything.

Seidou just watched him, a half smirk on his lips as he placed his hands in the pockets of his robes and kicked the dirt at his feet. Warechu had long since left, fearing what would happen if he stayed and got caught in whatever carnage that would come. He didn't seem to care much about finishing them off, and for now he would make use of that.

Finally, Vent looked to Nepgear, who jumped a little at the fierceness in his mismatched eyes. "Nepgear, you and I will fight him together. Your HDD form and my Kagune are the only weapons we can use that can damage him. We'll be bearing the full brunt of the damage, understood?"

Nepgear found it remarkably… calming, whenever Vent stopped playing the observing role within their party and began devising strategies that she could never think of. She also felt it endearing that he didn't just take the leadership position from her since she wasn't that fit to be leader anyways. When he told her what they were going to do, she gave a firm nod and swiftly transformed into her HDD state, holding her Gunblade at the ready. "Yes, we'll fight together to save the Mascot." She declared bravely, her serious blue eyes gazing into his own green and red ones.

Vent stared at her, before nodding with a satisfied smile. "Very well." He turned and began releasing his Koukaku and Rinkaku Kagune. "Let's get this on, shall we?" The male then was off, unleashing a pair of Tentacles at Seidou's position. Said person cackled as he dodged them by jumping over the Tentacles and hopping towards him. Knowing what Seidou would do if he got too close, Vent stopped him by swinging his Rinkaku like whips, stopping his advance and making room for Nepgear.

Said girl aimed her Gunblade and fired a few rounds, each one missing as the man seemed to shift his body as he fell, landing on one hand that he pushed off of, landing on the ground feet-first. "I won't lose!" she bellowed, aiming her Gunblade as the interior of its barrel began to glow. "SHARE CANNON!" her Skill activated, and released a large flaming Meteor at him.

On his side, Seidou stared at the Meteor that was about to claim his life with a look of boredom. He then flipped backwards, landing on the outer edges of the platform, before using them as a stepping stone to jump high into the air, enough to get over the Meteor. His instincts told him to turn around, so he did and blocked the swing of Vent's left Koukaku blade. A Plume of Spikes had manifested over his right shoulder blade, blocking the blade from hitting and cleaving his head off.

The two landed on the ground and backed away, well, Vent backed away when a volley of spike-thin projectiles, all precisely aimed to cut through his Tendons. Fortunately, Vent's armour had managed to form in time to block it, the armour form having vanished temporarily disappeared after their last battle with the Beowolves. He hadn't donned it when he fought Warechu and his Fenrir minion since he beat them in one shot. The faceplate and Visor weren't closed though; they were open to show his mismatched eyes as they glared at Seidou.

"Hey, your hype!" Seidou exclaimed, his eyes, his left one sporting his Kakugan filling with praise as he stared at Vent's Kagune. "Decent leadership skills and combat skills. Makes me wonder what kind of investigator you coulda been." He remarked, thoughtfully, cupping his chin with his left hand.

This didn't go over well with IF, who scowled at the man who was not even glancing at them, keeping his focus on Vent. "He's insane… and not even takin us seriously." She commented, resisting the urge to go in and mask the man upside the head.

Compa noticed his mismatched eyes and lost control of her jaw while she healed the damaged RED. "Eh?! That eye…?! Is he like-?!" she gasped, looking over to Vent who gave her a frown and a nod.

"He's like Vent, a One-Eyed Ghoul…" Nepgear breathed, horror and dreaded realisation overcoming her. She remembered what Vent had told them about Ghouls, about how the One-ed variants were stronger than their full-blooded peers due to hybrid vigour. During that brief clash, she had seen how Seidou moved and reacted to their attacks, and saw how clear it was that Seidou was strong, stronger than the average monsters thus far. Also, despite being a One-Eyed Ghoul, he was still human in shape, and human vs human combat wasn't something she specialised in. As a CPU Candidate, she was meant to protect the humans of her land. Thus, fighting against them was contradictory to her role within Gamindustri.

Still, on the other side this one was causing trouble to Gamindustri by working for ASIC, which perfectly fit into her job role of protecting the people. Shame she didn't know much about fighting with humanoid opponents. Uni and Underling were exceptions, one was weaker than weak, the other was a fellow CPU Candidate.

Seidou's mismatched eyes widened in glee as he gazed at Vent, who shifted in discomfort. "Man, this'll be a blast! So please, try not to be too disappointing, ya hear?" With that, Seidou charged at him with speeds befitting of his Ukaku Kagune type. He launched a series of jabs and punches at the male in a deadly sequence that, when his Ghoul strength was applied, could have smashed bones and broke through his body. Fortunately, Vent looked at the bright side, he had Ghoul endurance that helped him deflect and block most of the blows.

Unfortunately, he fell for a feint in the form of a jab to the head when really Seidou went for a kick to the stomach, making him bend over with a loud gasp. His eyes widened and he hear the sounds fo a Kagune manifesting. Quickly, he released his Koukaku with the intention of defending himself against a barrage of attacks, quickly wincing when he felt the Kagune get pierced by multiple Shards.

Before the Shards could do any more damage, Vent pushed Seidou back with his damaged Koukaku, the other One-Eyed Ghoul stumbling back before flipping into the air and sliding back, halting himself after a short time. Vent lowered his Koukaku, only to feel his gaze get drawn to it when he realised that the Koukaku wasn't in its blade form. Instead, it looked like it was a Shield now, over his arm. It was the size of his torso and stomach, with a single Kakugan on the centre and a wide mouth that was frozen into a petrifying grin. The fangs and mouth were highlighted red on the black shield, with crimson red spikes protruding from the sides. "Huh…? Interesting…"

Forming his opposite Koukaku, Vent looked himself over as he realised he'd made a Sword/Shield Combo. 'Hehehe… heh, looks like we have an Urie #2…' he remarked to himself mentally, with Rasen agreeing with a psyched chuckle. He remembered in the Manga where Kuki Urie, an Investigator that was a Quinx who's out-famed himself, managed to form a Lance/shield Combo from his Koukaku Kagune. While he had a sword, it still felt similar.

Getting into a stance, Vent held his shield in front of him with his blade reared back as if for a stab. Seidou's cackled madly while Nepgear made to attack, flying at him with a feminine war cry. She sent several slashes his way, Seidou tilting his head and upper body from side to side to avoid them, until he spun and reverse roundhouse kicked the girl in her side, k knocking the wind out of her and sending her flying into the Platform.

This gave Vent the opening he needed to go in for a slash to Seidou's head. However, the other male managed to block him by manifesting his Kagune in the form of long blade. He spun around for a reverse upward swing that Vent blocked with his shield, the two engaging in a high speed slash fest.

SLASH

SLASH

SLASH

SLASH

SLASH

SLASH

SLASH

SLASH

SLASH

SLASH

SLASH

SLASH

SLASH

SLASH

SLASH

They went, circling around each other and inflicting minor injuries upon their bodies, which were healed seconds later. Vent jumped at Seidou after parrying a strike and pushing the Kagune upwards, pushing his legs forwards and using him as a springboard to jump high into the air. He manifested 2 Rinkaku Tentacles, larger ones than he normally had, and sent them in an overhead slam. Seidou rolled out of the way though, switching the Ukaku blade to its default plume form and launching a volley of Shards at him, Shards that he blocked with his shield.

Nepgear came in from behind, much to Seidou's surprise and launched a slash to the back of his head, which he dodged by ducking. He tried to sweep kick her, but forgot that she was floating so his attack missed and resulted in him getting a laser to the face. "ARGH, MY FACE, MY FACE, MY FAAAAACE!" He screamed, rolling back before going from side to side on the ground like a sausage.

While Nepgear would have felt sorry for the person, she didn't have the chance to when he suddenly got up to his feet like nothing had happened with a massive, sinister and demented grin on his face. "Just Kidding!" in an instant, Seidou was before her with speed that caught Nepgear off guard. 'So fast!' that was her last thought before facing a barrage of punches, flying at her and impacting with the speed and impact off a bullet train.

As the barrage flew, it was only Nepgear's Share energy that kept her from being pumped full of fist-sized holes, but still the pain was tremendous. Enough to make her scream in pure agony as she was sent flying by a double kick from the One-Eyed Ghoul. Nepgear fell to the ground, bouncing several times before coming to a stop. Weakly, she raised her head to look up at her opponent, and saw him looming above her with his Kagune in blade form, ready to impale her. "You did well, girlie. Your talents would have made you a rank 2 Investigator. Shame you must die here, but oh well, better luck next time, right?"

Nepgear watched as the blade descended down towards her, intent on running her through and ending her life. Before it could do so however, a pair of Tentacles slammed into Seidou's side, the man making a startled yelp and an "Ouchies!" while tumbling away.

"You ok, Nepgear?"

Turning to the source of the attack, Nepgear saw that Vent was the saviour of that moment, and weakly nodded her head. "I… I'm a little b-bruised, but I'll be good…. After a Healing pod." She summoned such a drink from her Inventory, before downing it in one gulp. Its effects were immediate; her body began to restore itself from the damage she was dealt by Seidou. The girl cringed as she felt shattered bones mend back together, repairing the damaged areas while her muscles lost their blemishes and her skin returned to its fair tone from before.

Healing Pods were just within the Party's Budget, so they didn't have many. Lifegrass was more abundant, but it didn't heal as effectively thus she resorted to using a more expensive item.

Vent nodded before casting his gaze towards Seidou. "Looks like we need another plan. Seidou's an Ukaku Ghoul, so his stamina should run out quickly if we go for a defensive, drawn-out battle, but…"

The CPU Candidate nodded, her lips pursed as she finished his sentence off with her own. "But with the situation, we may not be able to last that long." Indeed, one of their members was incapacitated, 2 others were defending her, and only hers and his weapons could damage the enemy.

"Our best bet would be to attack with everything we've got, skills included. Hit him with everything and make him waste energy trying to heal from the damage. That way he won't be able to fight for very long." Vent suggested, readying his Rinkaku, Blade and shield. No sooner did he do that, did Seidou suddenly form his Plume and launch his Shards at him. Instead of blocking, Vent chose to do something else, a grin sweeping across his features as he had a Tentacle move in front of him.

Its tip had cracks spread across it, before these cracks were revealed to be a slowly-opening, lipless fang-filled mouth that gobbled up the Shards launched at them faster than Nepgear was when gathering gears for tinkering. The mouth swallowed the Shards it caught, converting them into RC Cells once more as it closed, returning the tip to normal. Seidou's reaction: "Well that's not fair at all."

"I'm sorry, we don't give a fuck." Vent countered as he charged forwards, empowering himself with Ukaku RC Cells. "Have a taste of my PHANTOM CLAW!" He dismissed his Blade and formed a fist, the ethereal Gauntlet manifesting over it that he used to unleash a vicious uppercut, sending Seidou into the air.

He followed suit with a twist of his waist, launching a Tentacle towards Seidou that formed a Mouth like the one before, and bit off his right leg. Seidou frowned at this, but as he recovered his eyes widened when he looked behind him and saw that Vent was already there, his Rinkaku now having become one large Tentacle. It then became empowered with Negatron, just like how Vent's Bikaku had done before, and slammed into him, sending Seidou to the ground with a crash, cracks spreading from the newly formed crater.

Just as he went to get up…

"FANG WAVE BARRAGE!" His eyes sharpened when he had to force himself to begin rolling and flipping about to dodge a volley of energy waves empowered with Negatron. Because Negatron was empowering them, instead of a bluish white energy wave, the energy waves were blacker than the abyss, with red outlines and matching electricity crackling along their frames.

When the Skill finished, Seidou stood tall, but with various cuts and lacerations, plus one of his arms had been obliterated by a stray bolt of lightning. While his body healed the cuts and grew him a new arm, Seidou's breathing was slowly becoming ragged. His RC Cells had been spent heavily on his Ukaku Shards and his regeneration.

Yet still, he gave a loud bout of laughter, not too threatened by the emerging weakness in the slightest. "Hahahaha! Now that's a Ghoul for ya! It doesn't hurt at all though! You know why?!" he screamed as Vent unravelled the Tentacle into 6 default ones, each one impaling him through the torso.

Vent grimaced when he saw the other Ghoul suddenly bite into the Tentacles, ripping through their armour plates like they were paper Mache. As a consequence, though, most of his teeth were shattered, blood filling his mouth, both his own and that of Vent's Kagune with several teeth dangling from his gums.

"BECAUSE I'M USED TO IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

Seidou screamed a massive, loud, blood-curdling scream. His teeth began to regenerate using the RC Cells that he'd gained from both injuries, as he repeatedly tore into the Tentacle till it was torn from its body. Seidou vigorously devoured the severed limb, repeatedly breaking and mending his teeth in the process.

'Dude... I knew Seidou was insane when I read him in the Manga, but seeing it is a whole different experience!'

The male couldn't help but cringe as he saw this. He had no idea what the others were feeling, but he could definitely tell that it wasn't pretty. He was sure Gamindustri wouldn't be prepared for the savagery that the Ghouls would bring to the table. The norm was cute girls, adventures and fanservice, but with the addition of Ghouls, there was a new dynamic added to the Mix. One that they wouldn't want there in the first place.

Once Seidou had devoured the Tentacle and his teeth regenerated, he wiped his mouth with the left arm of his robes, looking down at the blood on it. "Hmmm, tasted oddly like salmon…" he muttered under his breath, before bursting into hysterical laughter. "Salmon tastes so icky and fishy, it's hilarious!"

"Okay, now I get why Vent says Ghouls can be deluded…" Nepgear commented from her spot in the air above Seidou, shuddering at the Deranged man before her. "This guy's so wrong-in-the-head that its beyond creepy…"

Apparently Seidou must have heard her as he turned to look up at her while flipping her the bird. "HAHAHAHAHA, fuck you, ya bitch! I'm not crazy, crazy-crazy-crazy!" he shrieked like a banshee, spit flying out his mouth. He then disappeared from view, much to Nepgear's shock as she began to look around frantically for where Seidou had gone.

If only she had looked up.

SLAM!

"Kyaaa!" she screamed while something large and humanoid slammed into her back, pressing its weight on her and forcing her to the ground. Nepgear felt her head being grabbed by a hand, and was thrown right towards where RED lay unconscious with Compa kneeling beside her, hands on her injuries and sporting a ghostly green glow.

"I'm SUPER crazy!"

Before Nepgear could crash into them and possibly knock out the two sole unconscious girls, a Kagune emerged from the ground and wrapped around her waist, halting her movement. Winded, Nepgear took a moment to regain her bearings, and when she was done the CPU Candidate looked down to see what it was that had caught her. She saw the Kagune around her waist, and judging from its appearance it belonged to their sole male Party member.

Said male commanded the Tentacle to lower her to the ground while rushing towards Seidou with his blade poised to slash him, but the other Half Ghoul dodged him and formed his own Ukaku blade, spinning into a reverse slash. Though this turned out to be a feint to lower Vent's guard around his right shoulder, something Seidou exploited as he lunged forwards and drove is Kagune through it.

Vent gasped as he felt the Ukaku blade run through the top of his shoulder. He had just barely managed to decrease the damage he would take by lowering it. He then did a vicious snap kick to the jaw, sending Seidou stumbling back from the suddenness and strength of the blow. With the arm that he had his Shield forming out of, Vent held the wound in his hand, the wound being concealed while it regenerated by the defensive Kagune.

The other Hybrid made to move, when he noticed something. "Huh? I smell something good…?" he muttered, confusion temporarily replacing his deranged insanity while his eyes and nose traced the scent down to its source. Some blood was flowing down his Ukaku blade, heading towards the base of his weapon. He may be an insane lunatic, but even he could tell that this blood came from his most recent strike on the other Hybrid.

Using a pair of fingers, Seidou scooped the blood from the Ukaku and brought them to his lips, extending his tongue and licking the blood clean off his finger. His eyes shot open beyond human limits as a whole rush of flavour assaulted his Ghoulish taste buds. "DELISH! THIS SENSATION… I'VE ONLY TASTED THIS ONCE BEFORE…!" He exclaimed, having arched over as he stared down at the hand that once had the delicious blood on it. He then looked up at Vent, who quickly realised what was going to happen next.

"I MUST…! HAVE! MORE!"

Seidou blasted forwards, his form like a black bullet as his mismatched eyes left trails of their specific colours while he moved. Seidou jumped and brought his blade down on Vent, who responded by combining his Rinkaku into 2 stronger Tentacles and blocking the blade with it. The two backed off each other before rushing into a furious bout of slashes once more.

SLASH

SLASH

SLASH

SLASH

SLASH

Their slash fest was interrupted however, by an exclamation of "SLASH EDGE!" as a blue wave of energy was launched at the Hybrid. Seidou and Vent jumped in opposite directions to allow the cause of the attack, which was revealed to be Nepgear, to fly in and slash at Takizawa. The Hybrid blocked her first slash, then her second before jumping to avoid her wide sweeping slash aimed at his legs.

"Heh, you're boring, I have no interest in you, so…" His blade morphed into a set of Tentacles, matching the size of the ones Vent used to block him a few seconds ago, before smacking Nepgear in the face and stomach, sending her flying. They then lunged forwards, grabbing her by the legs and smashing her into the ground. "STOP BEING A USELESS BITCH ALREADY!"

Nepgear gasped as pain shot up her spine. She then cried out as the Tentacles smacked her away, retracting to Seidou's side in time to block the Koukaku blade of one royally pissed off Vent. Seidou noticed this and gave a mocking grin, "Oh? Does the knight in shining armour feel threatened now that his little lady is down? Awww, how sad, too bad!"

The male ignored this as he repeatedly slashed at every vital he could, making sure to keep his shield up to block any Ukaku strikes from the other Hybrid. He reset his Rinkaku into its default 6 Tentacles before launching them at Seidou. Said Hybrid of human and Ghoul managed to avoid all but 2, which cut through his shoulders. "That's payback!"

Just as Seidou made to respond, he heard a feminine cry and turned to look behind him, only to gape to see Nepgear, who had recovered from his earlier attacks, appear behind him with her Gunblade at his back. "SHARE CANNON!" she bellowed, firing the Skill from point blank range.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" For some reason, Vent felt oddly satisfied at the fact that Nepgear had managed to get in a strike like that. Probably from the fact that Seidou had called her a useless bitch, the insult making him growl under his breath.

Seidou was sent flying by the Skill… only he didn't come back down. Instead, he kept on flying into the skies, similar to a certain trio always trying to catch and fail in catching a certain yellow mouse, until a blinking star was what remained of him. Vent gave a sweat drop at the situation, before turning his head to look at Nepgear. "Uhhhh, Nepgear? … I think you went a bit overkill."

"Honestly, I agree with you there, Vent." IF's voice sounded as she and Compa walked up to them, carrying RED with one arm over their shoulders each.

The girl had thankfully regained consciousness, but was unable to muster the energy to move herself. "You alright, RED? You look like you've seen better days." Vent asked in concern as he retracted his Kagune into his Kakuhous.

RED looked up at him and gave a weak, tired grin, her eyes reflecting gratitude, and… something else, something only Vent noticed. "I'm good… thanks for kicking that guy's bacon for RED, Venny. It made you look like a real man… a man among men." She praised, for the first time not focusing on any girl this time, just Vent and Vent alone.

Also... was she sporting a tinge of pink, right then?

Nah, he had to be hallucinating.

The Male rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Yeah, well… Nepgear was the one who dealt the final blow, so…"

"Yup, I saw." RED replied, nodding with a bit more energy returning to her. "My Wifey is the best, no doubt about that." Her eyes looked downwards, and was he hallucinating or was RED blushing? Nah, probably not. "Not to say you didn't look cool either…" her eyes gained a slight excited gleam to them when she remarked. "Then there's how you dealt a double one-hit KO earlier! That was sick!"

Only an awkward laugh came out of Vent's lips as he scratched the side of his cheek nervously, IF rolling her eyes at this with a small amused smirk. "Oh, take the praise already, Vent. I'll gladly predict that you're cool with the Hyperdimension Fans by now. If not, then it's no concern, this is fanfiction after all."

Before Vent could comment on the fourth wall breaking, the Lastation Mascot floated over to them, having seen that the enemy had been dealt with and found it safe to resume their previous discussion. "So… That was one of the evils plaguing Gamindustri?" it asked, a curious and concerned edge to its tone.

The group turned and regarded the Lastation Mascot. "Yeah." IF nodded her head in response, her face turning into one of concern as her mouth became a thin line. "And now that Rat plus that Ghoul now know exactly where you are, too."

"Pretty sure that he was a Mouse, IF."

"Same thing, Vent."

"So it would seem." The Lastation Mascot bobbed up and down, as if it were nodding in agreement with both IF and Vent's comments about the enemy. Though this was debatable within the Party's ranks. "Perhaps it would be best for me to go into hiding for the time being."

Vent cupped hic chin at those words. "Well, could I suggest you go to Lastation's Basilicom? Any other Dungeon and ASIC will likely be able to track you. If you go to the Oracle, she can arrange for a secure place for you till this blows over." His eyes then narrowed as he remembered where they had left off. "Anyways, back to our conversation before we were so rudely interrupted…"

The Mascot flashed slightly, interrupting him as it spoke. "Yes. During your talk and fight, I have been thinking. Some things simply cannot be protected alone. I cannot abandon this Nation, as it would violate the pact with the True Goddess. However, what I am capable of doing is offering my power, while my physical self remains here." It then turned towards Nepgear, its form flashing once more as blue energy began to gather in front of it, forming a smaller version of itself. It almost looked like a ghostly echo of itself, as it floated towards the CPU Candidate. "Accept a portion of my power…"

"Huh? Goodness…!" Nepgear's breathe hitched in awe as she felt the energy coursing through her, when the ghostly ball floated into her chest, passing through clothing and flesh like they weren't even there. A brief aura formed around her, before disappearing just as fast as it had appeared. "Thank you so much! I Promise that we'll save everyone!"


	25. Chapter 25 - Leaving Lastation

**Chapter 25 - Leaving Lastation**

"Okay, we've pretty much wrapped up our business in Lastation, but…" IF frowned as the Party returned to the Basilicom. After giving Nepgear a portion of its power, the Mascot had vanished without a trace. It was unknown if it would take Vent's advice or not, but they could only hope that it did. Though, before it did so, the Lastation Mascot had floated over to Vent and lightly tapped him, transferring something to him and saying that she had helped him 'progress' though didn't say in what. He had felt a brief power spike, plus something weird in his chest, but that was it, so he had decided to not think about it for the time being.

Now, they were in the same place that they had met that Lastation Guard at, conversing on their next move. Like IF had said, they had done pretty much what they had come here to do, but there were a few problems that they felt needed to be addressed. Compa was the one to do so when she placed a closed hand over her chest with a worried look on her face as she addressed the Party. "We couldn't get the CPU Candidate to help us, huh? What'll we do?"

'Well, Uni had her own baggage to take care of, something she made me promise not to tell anyone when I flew after her…' Vent thought to himself, but keeping silent. He would not betray another's trust in him with things like that, it was not his way, and would violate both his and her honor. 'Now that I think about it, fighting her may have changed something… I'll have to ask her about that when I get the chance.'

RED was the next one to speak. Thanks to being carried by IF and Compa, who had aching shoulder by now, she had gained enough energy to act like her usual energetic lesbian self. "It really is a shame…" She hummed in disappointment that they couldn't get Uni to join them… but for different reasons to the others. "It would have been so sick to have two cute CPU Wifeys."

Everyone rolled their eyes, even Nepgear, at RED's love for attaining Wifeys. Speaking of the CPU Candidate, she was poking her index fingers as she remembered the last time they had seen Uni, the broken, defeated look in her eyes pictured clearly in her mind. Plus, the way she looked at the two of them specifically, like they were obstacles, made Nepgear feel terrible. "Uni…"

When Vent noticed, he made to snap her out of it, but then IF did it for him, giving him a look that said to let her handle this. "No point in sitting around, moping. Let's head to the Basilicom and give our report."

* * *

After agreeing unanimously, the Party made their way back to Lastation's Basilicom. They didn't have to travel far, and when they went up to Kei's office to deliver the report, it seemed that Kei was already there waiting for them, much to IF's dismay.

When she requested to know the details of how their talk went, Nepgear was the one to respond, explaining what had happened without leaving anything out. At the end, Kei held a surprised expression, a hand on her hip as she hummed in thought. "Well done." She praised them, before cupping her chin with her other hand. "I'm surprised to hear that such a stubborn Mascot agreed to lend you some power."

IF sighed again, still salty as ever about the nosy habits Lastation's Oracle possessed. "We're the ones who came to deliver the report. It would be really awesome if you wouldn't do it for us."

Vent grasped her shoulder, getting her attention. He silently told her to drop the subject, knowing that nothing would change so she was just making a fool of herself. Once he was sure she got the message, Vent turned to the Oracle. "Did the Lastation Mascot come this way, Mrs Kei? I told it to not go to another Dungeon since ASIC could locate it easier then."

Kei nodded with a small smile. "Indeed, the Mascot came to me not long before you guys arrived back in Lastation. You must have made a good impression on it, since it was really impressed with your skills. We relocated it to a secure location which shall remain nameless for the sake of national safety." She remarked, her arms now crossed under her chest. Vent noticed that unlike before, she didn't have a clipboard in hand, something he noted in his mind but didn't speak of.

Nevertheless, it was relieving that the Lastation Mascot had adhered to his advice like that. It made him feel really good inside. "Thanks, glad to hear it."

He then stepped back, allowing Nepgear to take the stage this time. "Our next step is to visit Lowee, but before that, could we meet with Uni one more time?" she requested. Everyone knew this was going to happen, they knew Nepgear didn't want to leave things on a bad note with her fellow CPU Candidate. It was only natural that she'd ask after her wellbeing.

"Hmm?" Kei hummed… until she nodded, as she stepped sideways to reveal a table… with a suspiciously shaped shadow beneath it. "That's really up to her to decide, since she dramatically dove under my Desk the moment you all arrived."

Seeing that she was found out, the raven haired CPU Candidate quickly rose out from under the Desk with an irritated look on her face as she glared at the Oracle, who looked unperturbed by it. "Hey! Don't be a stool Pidgeon!" she yelled, much to Kei and, secretly, Vent's amusement.

"Oh, hi Uni!" before Uni could chide the Oracle any further, Nepgear walked up to her with her usual innocence about her. "I'm so glad I got to see you." She greeted, but frowned when she saw the guarded look Uni had on her when she noticed the Planeptune Candidate's presence.

"Uh, h-hi, Nepgear…"

'Oh Gods, this is so awkward…' Vent thought while staring nervously at the two. They were generating an air of awkwardness that enveloped the room, making the others aware of it as well. What made it worse, was when Uni addressed him as well. "Oh, uh, h-h-h-hi, Vent, too…"

"Wait, me too?!"

The male was ignored as Nepgear decided to move the conversation along. "I know I asked already, but… Uni, won't you come with us and help save our sisters?" Nepgear requested, her eyes taking on a pleading gleam to them.

However, that would not work on the Lastation Candidate. "No!" she shrieked, furiously shaking her head. When she saw the look that Vent was giving her, the slight accusing glare that hinted that she had done something offensive, Uni continued with a much more level, yet timid, tone of voice. "At least… not yet."

"I see…"

'If I went with them right now, I'd only be a burden…' Uni thought to herself. She had thought hard about the battle she had with Nepgear and Vent, two powerful people in her eyes now. While she wasn't as powerful as a CPU, Nepgear was still strong enough in her own right. Vent though, his power felt close to a Candidate's level, but was still growing with no signs of slowing down. That energy he wielded was powerful and left her with aches that had lasted for 2 hours. With power like that, Uni had come to terms with being weaker than them, at least for now. Until she was stronger, she couldn't go with them yet.

"#SNIFFLE# #SNORT#"

The sounds of crying brought Uni out of her thoughts and into reality, to see that the source was Nepgear. Her eyes widened in shock and panic as she took a hasty step back, throwing her arms up in self-defence as if expecting a hit already. "Wh-What?! Why are you crying?!" she shrieked in confusion. If Planeptune Girls were like this, then she'd never understand them!

Compa and IF felt the strange need to berate the raven haired CPU Candidate for some reason.

"B-Because, we became good friends, but all we do is fight…" Nepgear began as she tried to wipe her tears away. "And now, we… we'll never be BFF'S, and…" even in her current state she still tried to continue, pouring her hidden feelings out there.

 **'** **Ooooh, looks like a little lesbo action is going on here…'** Rasen commented, wolf whistling to make it even worse. Vent's eyebrow twitched, while he was glad that only he could hear Rasen right now, as the girls might pound him into the ground if they heard his comments, it meant he had to bear the burden of hearing them himself. Fortunately for him he had a way to compensate for that.

'And I'm imagining the infamous sunset scene…'

 **'** **Wait what?! Oh, oh no… oh no-no-no-no-no! GAAAAARGH, MY EYES, MY EYES-MY EYES!'**

It wasn't long until Uni couldn't take this anymore. She quickly began to play damage control, flailing her arms about till they were blurs. "Our spat has nothing to do with it." She exclaimed, trying to calm the Planeptune Candidate down. Then, she realised something about her sentence and gave an accusing look to her instead of the panicked face she wore before. "Hang on! You're talking like we'll never see each other again!"

Her shout caused Nepgear to pause her monologue as her curiosity and hope soon mixed in with her depression. "Huh?" Nepgear looked up at Uni, her eyes now filling with a rising hope from within. "So… you wanna hang out later?" she asked hopefully.

The way she looked at the blackette CPU Candidate made Uni look away. She was almost blinded by the light of radiance and childish innocence her fellow Candidate was radiating around her while staring at her with those hopeful eyes. "Tch. W-Well, maybe when I feel like it, maybe I'll… you know, think about it a little. Maybe." Uni finally replied, although with an embarrassed blush on her face as she tried to reply awkwardly to Nepgear's words.

Vent saw this, and couldn't help but think of several people he had seen in various manga back in his world, all of them having the same personality trait that Uni was showing right now. A sweat drop formed over his head as he watched the scene. 'I think this is what they call a Tsundere moment. Uni clearly looks like she's all up for it…' Vent thought.

 **'** **Yeppers!'** Rasen commented in agreement, while also making sure to keep any other remarks to himself. The power of that sunset imagery was still fresh in his mind, and he didn't want a repeat performance. This made Vent grin mercilessly inside, knowing that he had some leverage over the otherwise psychotic being within him.

If it was possible, the glittery aura around Nepgear got even brighter as she put her hands in front of her like a typical prayer pose. "Really? For really reals?! It's a Promise okay?!" Nepgear cried, before jumping up and down in merriment.

"I… I said if I feel like it, and not… ugh! Fine, fine. I promise, okay?" Uni tried to say, before giving in and rolling with it. Nepgear seemed too far gone at this point, but could she really blame her? After all, it seemed that she was thinking for so long that she was hateful of her, when that wasn't completely true. She was angry at first, but now it was more like jealousy that Nepgear had more power than she did… at the moment though, that will change in the future, she was sure of it!

Deciding that Nepgear was a lost cause, Uni turned to the sole male in the room, the actual male not the boyish girl that was Kei. She fidgeted awkwardly as she tried to get her words out. "U-Um, thanks for um… you know, letting me fight you… uh, it was just so I could, prove myself, and all…"

"Don't worry about it, perhaps we could talk later in private. Seems like you're not that fond of conversing bout topics like that in front of people." Vent replied, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving an encouraging smile. The girl looked up at him for a moment, searching his eyes for anything negative, but found only understanding. A smile slowly formed on her features, her face reddening even more than when she was talking to Nepgear. "Y-Yeah… thanks, that would be great."

Watching all this, Kei raised a brow in amusement, noticing the Lastation Candidate's bashful state. "Quite the Character, aren't we?" she remarked, getting Vent's attention as he turned to her. "I never thought I'd see the day when Uni could look so…happy." She said.

Apparently, Uni heard her and was quick to snap out of her happy stupor and glare heatedly at the Oracle for Lastation. "Hey! Wipe that stupid smirk off your face right now!" Uni shouted, pointing an accusing finger at her, to which Kei just smirked teasingly, much to the younger girl's embarrassment.

While this was going on, the young Nurse checked the time and realised that it was getting on. If they wanted to get to Lowee, they had to go soon. Thus, she nodded to IF before walking up to the CPU Candidate, placing a hand on her shoulder and getting her out of her little daydream of hanging out with friends. "Ge-Ge, we should get going." Compa urged her.

The male, who had already seen what Compa had been doing, was now at the door, holding it open like a butler opening the door to a mansion for his liege. "Honestly, Lowee's not gonna wait for us, ya know, so let's take off." Vent also urged.

Seeing as they were about to leave, Kei looked at them all individually, from IF, to Compa, to RED, to Nepgear and lastly to Vent. "Although necessary, I do apologize for keeping you here for so long. Best of luck on your travels." In the end, Kei gave them a formal bow.

However, she was hit with an insult from their resident female Brunette who shuddered at the sincere tone she was detecting from the Oracle. "Stop it. You creep me out when you say anything remotely selfless."

 **'** **OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH…! We need some Aiello for that shit!'** – Rasen cried out dramatically. If he had a physical body, Vent could see him stepping back with his head tilted backwards, a hand on his forehead and pointing his other hand at the woman.

'Looks like you haven't learned your lesson, yet…'

 **'…** **Shutting up...'**

* * *

After quite possibly scarring Rasen for life, the party left the Basilicom. The Party decided that they would head for Lowee right away, but there was one problem. The Trains between Lowee and Lastation suffered severe damage when one of those Beowolves, a stray that had moved from the Dungeon, destroyed the tracks. Luckily nobody was hurt and Soldiers were able to put the Abnormal down, however they wouldn't be able to use the trains for the rest of the day. That wasn't acceptable for the Party, so IF suggested that they walk to Lowee.

Which led them to this moment.

"You… really didn't think this through, IF." Vent muttered as the Party navigated through a large mountainous area. They were going uphill, with several mountainous protrusions leading through a long passageway. The skies above were dark and cloudy, and rain was pouring down heavily. The party was thus soaked, with their hair draped over their skin like cloaks. The male right now had a less than pleased expression as he gazed at the cause of their problems. "You just HAD to suggest we walk, didn't you? Shoulda bought an Umbrella…"

IF rolled her eyes in annoyance, but refrained from snapping at him. Partially because he was right and partially because the others were here. If it were just her and Compa and he wasn't right, then it would be a different ball game. "I get it, I get it already, sheesh. Honestly, you can be as bad as RED sometimes."

RED perked up, hearing her name being mentioned. "Did a Wifey just call out my name in pleasure?"

The brunette gave her a glare at her comment, before shaking her head and deciding to ignore her comment. "We should find somewhere to set up camp, I have some equipment in my Inventory we can use."

Compa than raised her arm and pointed forwards. "You guys, I see a cave up ahead, we can camp there!" she called to the others. They looked forth, and saw that one of the mountains had a cylindrical entrance to it, leading deep into the mountain. It looked perfect for camping for the night, for not only did it provide shelter from the rain, there were small pieces of rock they could use for a fire pit.

"That's great, Compa! We don't have to camp outside now!" Nepgear cheered, raising her arms upwards. What she didn't realise was that because of the waiter staining their clothes wet, their undergarments were being shown. Fortunately, Vent wouldn't look at that as he was too busy being annoyed at having his clothes being wet. Apparently even his Kagune could be soaked, so his clothes being like this would make sense. 'Though I never found this out in the Manga, godamnit!'

* * *

As the group made their way inside the cave, everyone worked together to set up the camp. IF took out her camping equipment which was consisting of a tent and a few sleeping bags. She only had enough for herself, Compa and Nepgear, but Vent had decided to detach aa piece of his Kagune and make a cocoon for himself to sleep in. He also made one for RED, a low heat in both able to keep them warm and yet destroy any and all bacteria on their persons.

He'd rather be caught dead than be unprepared. And a Kagune can be moulded into shapes depending on one's intelligence.

* * *

Once camp was set up, IF used her DEMON FLAMES Skill, a weak version anyways not the one she uses for battle, to start a fire with what few twigs she had found while heating them up inside. Everyone was in their respective sleeping bags and/or cocoons, though RED looked a tad disappointed she wasn't sharing one with her 'wifey'… not for a lack of trying, mind you.

Let's just say that IF as overprotective and leave it at that.

As they stared at the fire bring in the middle of them, as their sole source of heat, Vent decided to bring up a conversation. "Quick question guys, how do you think the other Mascots will react to our presence? You think they'll be as stubborn as Lastation's or more like Planeptune's?"

Looking up from the fire, Compa became the first to answer the male's question. "I hope it's the second one, I was worried that we were not gonna make it there." She remarked, a worried frown etched onto her lips.

"It reminds me of Lastation's CPU Noire, and Uni in some ways too." IF spoke, getting everyone's attention. Even in camp and within a sleeping bag she was still playing with one of her phones. "They're all stubborn about something and won't admit to being wrong unless they're forced to. Just think, it would have been more difficult in getting that one's co-operation if that rat hadn't shown up."

Vent nodded his head in agreement. "True, if negotiations wouldn't have worked. However, there's still so much about the Mascots and their respective powers that we don't know a thing about. Though I do agree, if Warechu hadn't shown up, heck if Seidou hadn't shown up, perhaps it would have taken longer to get its help."

"True. But I do think we should feel we should find a way to fight Ghouls, Ge-Ge and Ven-Ven nearly got the stuffing beat out of them by that Seidou character." Compa stated, the two mentioned people frowning when they remembered that deranged Ghoul.

Peering into the flames, Vent remembered that one's history and decided to share it with them all. "Seidou Takizawa isn't like most Ghouls, due to the fact that he's like me, a Hybrid. However, unlike me he is no longer able to eat human foods, and he became one against his will when he had his arm ripped off and was at deaths door. Still though, his mentality is highly warped thanks to the torment that guy went through, his captors in Aogiri Tree had him undergo severe torture to break his 'human' mentality." He explained, before continuing with a bitter snarl. "They sure did a hell of a job there."

IF narrowed her eyes as she looked at him suspiciously. "You sound like you're trying to hide something. What is it? Spill it, Vent, you're not the type of guy to keep secrets like this." She questioned/demanded of him.

While raising his head, Vent met with IF's stare and they had a short staredown. The staredown ended with Vent sighing and leaning back in his cocoon. "You could say that. Anyways, while Seidou's mentally unstable, he's not the worst Ghoul we may have to face. If those bastards in ASIC have done what I'm guessing, which is brought back the more dangerous Ghouls, then there's one Ghoul I'm dreading to face above all others. Not because he's weak or strong, but for his personality. You could say that even Ghoul standards would find him disturbing."

Nepgear shuddered at the thought as she gripped the edges of the sleeping back she was in tightly. "Someone who give even Ghouls chills? He sounds scary…" she mumbled, but they all heard it. They shared her opinions about the matter, if a Ghoul existed that even his own kind found disturbing then he would surely be someone to watch out for, if he had indeed been brought back, that is.

"Knowing our luck, I'd say he would be…" IF remarked bitterly. She was aware of how their Party ended up in some sticky situations over the course of their journey. It was likely that this Ghoul was lurking about somewhere in Gamindustri, waiting for them.

Vent scowled at the thought as he cracked his knuckles. "If he comes near you girls, I'll be giving him a second death experience…" he snarled viciously, blinking in surprise moments later as he spoke in an apologetic tone. "Sorry, just grinds my gears is all. Anyways, his name is Karao Saeki, with the codename of TORSO. He's a ghoul serial killer who was known for dismembering, raping then decapitating his victims by only taking their torso. He was supposed to have been killed by his last victim, but apparently like Tatara and Seidou he's now in this world. With so many potential victims since this world's full of girls."

Everyone became pale at the thought, Compa and Nepgear were shaking like leaves with the former clutching onto IF for support. Said brunette didn't look much better, but at least she was trying to keep her cool for her friend. RED was latching onto her wifey for support, even though said support was weaker than a Dogoo right now. "Okay, I get that he's bad news…" all eyes turned to IF as she said this, trying to keep a lid on it. "But why do other Ghouls find him so bad? I mean, I get that he's a bastard, but you make him sound worse."

The male gave her a deadpanned stare, wordless for a moment, before he cleared his throat and spoke. "I'm gonna recite one of his diary entries for you, prepare to have your mind revolted. Nepgear, if you don't like, cover your ears… and REDs too while you're at it. Ahem." After he cleared his throat, Vent looked them all dead in the eye, before he spoke with a rehearsed dull voice, like he'd done this before:

 _ **"How long has it been,**_

 _ **Since splitting up with my previous lover?**_

 _ **A lonely pillow is difficult to sleep on.**_

 _ **If I'm not embraced by that kind of smooth flesh, it feels as though my mind will become very strange.**_

 _ **For me, there is no way whatsoever to understand the hearts of humans.**_

 _ **Why they are happy, angry, sad, I cannot imagine. How must I act so that they do not leave me?**_

 _ **Since souls cannot be seen at any rate, speaking to people besides myself, I think of them as automated dolls, crammed with meat.**_

 _ **Is it because I'm a Ghoul, or is it that I'm also abnormal among Ghouls.**_

 _ **I'm unable to acknowledge consciousness's besides my own. In psychology this seems to be called "Philosophical Zombie."**_

 _ **Zombies, walking corpses. What I pursue might just be a zombie.**_

 _ **Simply staying here blankly, not going anywhere, quietly listening to me talk, gentle zombie. Lover.**_

 _ **Because I cannot comprehend mood, and have no way to convey mood. So before I talk, I want to let her quietly be there, hearing me speak.**_

 _ **My lovers up until now, although they haven't gone (can't go) anywhere, but, they surely would not accept me.**_

 _ **Insults, pleading, sounds of shrieks let out from the head. A gaze of contempt at me. Just thinking back upon these makes one feel weary.**_

 _ **At the end, I destroy the face.**_

 _ **Then I use only the shadow of their remaining carcass to let myself obtain comfort.**_

 _ **That pair of eyes, that delicate nose, that mouth, the tip of that brow, the smooth and round forehead. If she were to accept me, what kind of salvation would I get?**_

 _ **At the moment, since the very beginning I haven't needed faces. Because I know I would not be accepted by people. I cannot trust in people who have arms and legs.**_

 _ **But now… I believe there's a "Maybe". Even if it's the me who deals with defects anyway, I too can genuinely love a person.**_

 _ **Tooru.**_

 _ **I became arid and hot like so; this is a feeling not felt for a long time. Not for a long time, perhaps it's a sight that has never been. She, as a Ghoul Investigator, has concealed many things. Firstly, is her own identity as a female. The eyelashes upon her pair of watery, large eyes, the countless scars upon her bronze coloured flesh and more.**_

 _ **She and I have a kind of feeling of wonderful connection as one whole.**_

 _ **She and I must be the same. There is no reason, but I know.**_

 _ **The truth must be that way. He truth has no reason. It doesn't need reason.**_

 _ **If she and I could talk with each other well, it would surely be conveyed to her. Because I've masturbated, thinking of you, countless times.**_

 _ **I want to touch you. Your already split open, worn thin places. Only in these scarred parts, will be closer than 1MM."**_

Finally, Vent stopped speaking, noticing the eerie, tense silence that dominated the cave around them. He didn't need to see their faces to know what they were possibly feeling; he could smell their emotions with his Ghoulish senses. They were feeling a variety of emotions, shock, horror, disgust, a sense of disturbance, a heavy one, and generally creeped out.

"That's so… creepy…" Compa stammered, her face pale as a ghost as she hugged herself for comfort, although the coldness of her body was little help. Not even the heat of the flames registered in her mind thanks to how horribly creeped out she was.

Nepgear shook like a leaf, trembling violently even with RED helping her, although she didn't look all that good herself. He could tell she was trying to remain strong for her 'wifey' which raised respect points from Vent at least.

IF was cringing as she gritted her teeth, visibly trying to restrain herself from doing something she might regret later. The fact that she saw how Compa and the other girls were acting didn't help. "Okay, I've seen some fucked up shit in my life… but that, that takes the cake. I can see why you would think he's more dangerous than Seidou and Tatara, they at least aren't so… disgustingly insane."

"Every woman that has rejected TORSO has had their limbs severed by him." Vent spoke, his tone dead as he mentally scolded himself. He felt sick to his stomach for having to recite that twisted diary entry. He was pretty sure he didn't need to say any more about how fucked up TORSO was after that entry. The Entry literally spoke for itself, it showed just how much of a psychopath that he was. The thought that he may be revived in this world did NOT do his nerves any favours here. "Since this world is filled with girls who many would consider cute or adorable, you can get why I'm concerned if we encounter that Ghoul with no means of protecting ourselves."

The girls could all agree with him there. It would be important for them to gain weapons and abilities that would be able to help them fight Ghouls, so they would be ready in case a Ghoul like TORSO were to appear. Knowing their luck, it would be bound to happen eventually.

* * *

After a while of talking, the group decided to get to sleep. IF lay on her side with the head of Compa's sleeping bag next to her. Fortunately, her sleeping bag was closed so her snores were muffled. Plus, IF had taken out some fluffy green headphones to block out the rest of the nose. RED had moved her cocoon so it was close to Nepgear's bag, said girl lightly snoring as she lay on her side.

Vent's cocoon had moved some distance away from the group and towards the entrance to the Cave. The male made to go to sleep, when he heard Rasen speak within his mind. **'Hey, uh, master? We kind of need to talk about something. It's pretty major, but I couldn't get an opening before, plus it's kinda personal regarding you and our developing Ghoul side.'**

While normally Vent would have ignored the voice in his head, something about him this time made the male choose not to do that. Rasen didn't sound his usual psychotic mocking self, in fact he seemed to be serious, borderline grave. Plus, when it came to his Ghoul side, Vent always paid 100% of his attention to whatever was being said. He loved his Ghoul side after all. Slowly shifting so his back was against the Cave wall, the male responded with a mental sigh. '… What is it, Rasen? I was just about to go to sleep there.'

 **'** **You're developing one of THEM.'**

Rasen's reply was simple, but it was the most astonishing thing that Vent had heard all day. He had almost lost his composure when he got an idea of what he was talking about. 'One of THEM? What are you talking about?' he asked him, praying that he was wrong and that he didn't mean what Vent thought he did.

Unfortunately, his hopes were dashed by Rasen's next sentence. **'Sorry bro, but it's true. When you began feasting on Seidou's body, your Ghoul side absorbed a large portion of his RC Cells. He must have recently fed, for him to have so many in just one limb. In any case, the amount of RC Cells has begun developing THAT. You know what I mean, since there's only one thing that's born when a Ghoul devours another Ghoul.'**

The male knew EXACTLY what that was, and he couldn't help but shudder at the thought. What Rasen was saying made the male sweat profusely, dread piling inside his gut at the thought of THAT manifesting. A Ghoul got stronger, and an extended lifespan, when it consumed RC Cells especially of those from another Ghoul. However, there was a side effect to that idea, a side effect in the formation of a mutation in their Cells. This mutation could either make or break a Ghoul, as it has lasting impacts on their psyche.

However, Vent had hoped he wouldn't have developed one of those for a long while yet. After all, there wasn't too many Ghouls like there were in the Manga. There were monsters, but they felt more like a human food source than a Ghoul one. There was the option to continue cannibalising Ghouls to have IT complete itself, but even that was risky as it had a high likelihood of not working. The male remembered a dream he had when his voice became hollow and distorted back in Lastation, and he shuddered once more. Was that a premonition of what is to come? God he hoped not, that would be horrifying.

Worse would be the reactions Nepgear and the others would have towards it. As he had stated in the monologue multiple times, this world and them by extension, wasn't ready for the raw savagery the Ghouls possessed. THAT was the most powerful form of savagery that a Ghoul could possess. If they thought fighting a normal Ghoul was hard, he dreaded the thought of them having to fight one using THAT.

 **'Its been happening gradually, as Monsters have a small portion of RC Cells in them. Think of them, and the Abnormal ones, as Pseudo-Ghouls. Since you've been repeatedly cannibalising them, your RC Cell count has been increasing, albeit in smaller amounts. You want proof? Look at your armour. True imagination shapes the Kagune, but you need a LARGE RC Cell count to be able to compensate for it. If yours wasn't as big as it is now, the you wouldn't have been able to make such an armour. In a way, you could say that its your Kagune but completely covering you, like one of THEM.'**

'Okay... but how can I have a chance of making one of THEM? My situation isn't like Ken Kaneki's, my body is still technically human!'

 **'Yeah, that's the exact problem. Your body has been in danger of breaking down from the exposure to Ghoul Cells, a human body wasn't built to handle such a large amount of RC Cells. You could have become one of those defective floppies. Fortunately, it adapted to it a while ago, but its also gained the ability to mutate the cells further, like a Ghoul's body. In essence, you have the body of a human, but the more you cannibalise, the more Ghoul attributes you gain. You could potentially lose your ability to eat human foods if we're not careful.'**

'Tell me there's something we can do to stop it, or at least delay it. I don't want to risk hurting the others if THAT ever manifests.' The male pleaded in his mind, panic filling his thoughts as images assaulted his mind, images of his idol Ken Kaneki, a Ghoul who had also used THAT multiple times during the series, despite the consequences on his mind.

 **'** **Well, we can't stop it now, our body is already beginning to make one. It's still difficult for me to tell when one is formed, but I can tell that devouring that Ghoul has quickened the process. Worse still is that our body is helping it along as well, feeding Negatron into the mutation to speed its development. If that's not bad enough, even if you limit yourself to human foods it won't hinder the process much. The best thing we can do is to watch ourselves, and when IT is finally ready to emerge we are in an isolated space. Preferably one full of Monsters, since we can use them as a substitute for Ghoul meat.'** Rasen replied solemnly, a groan escaping his lips. He didn't like this any more than his master did, but it was a process that had to be completed as it was one of the factors keeping Vent's true power from being awakened. Not that he would tell him yet, it wasn't time and Vent wouldn't understand.

Meanwhile, Vent was torn between panicking like hell and making an attempt to kill himself, even though the second one went against his code. He wouldn't even consider it normally, but gaining one of THOSE in an incomplete form was NOT something that could be taken lightly. Hell, while he was aware that some Ghouls got lucky with their mutations, his gut told him that he would not be one of them. It was rare enough that a Ghoul got to the stage he was at now, never mind being able to fully control it.

In the end, the male settled for taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down. His lungs repeatedly inhaled and exhaled oxygen, expelling his initial worries. Right now, the male mused, there was little he could do right now. The only thing he could think of was making a run for it when he felt IT beginning to manifest around him the first time. The first time sounded like the most intense, so the most carnage would be done during the first transformation.

Once he was calm, Vent gave a mental good night towards his mental tenant, before falling onto his side and drifting into a deep slumber.


	26. Chapter 26 - Lowee

**Chapter 26 - Lowee**

The following morning, the party woke up and gathered their belongings together. The storm had passed, showing a clear blue sky with the sun burning bright in the heavens above. RED had been the first to get ready, then Nepgear, IF, Compa and lastly, Vent. The Guild Agent had noticed that he seemed slightly off for some reason, a little more far off than usual. Like he had been troubled by something. However, she didn't say anything out of respect for how he remained composed when telling them about that Ghoul TORSO. She figured what he had told them still rattled his cage, but she was only half right.

While he was fretting about something, it sure as hell wasn't TORSO, not anymore…

Once they were all set and ready to go, they all left to continue their journey to Lowee.

* * *

The Land of Lowee was a big contrast to the other two lands in terms of weather. The area was covered in a constant blanket of snow, with cylindrical buildings in the Capital. There were some that even looked like tall building shaped mushrooms, which was an interesting source of architecture. It was able to stand out amongst the previous nations that the party had visited.

At the entrance to the Nation's capital, one could see a large trail of smoke, with a black figure at the centre trailing behind it. Citizens stopped and looked at the smoke, curious stares on their features as they watched on. The figure got closer, with no signs of slowing down, and they could soon see it was a female, not a monster as some had started to wonder.

The female figure approached the gates at high speeds, before hopping into a long slide. Citizens saw the impending scenario and quickly fled the area as a large shockwave flew through the area. The figure slid across the ground till she stopped just at the gates, the smoke whizzing by her and blowing through her hair. Most of the snow was blown away by the arrival of this figure, creating a massive cloud that covered a large portion of the Capital.

When the smoke and snow settled, the figure was revealed to be RED, who was grinning like a mischievous devil as she held her hands on her hips, laughing merrily. "Here I am, Lowee!" She cheered, hopping up and down while doing a victory dance, before raising one hand and pointing to the skies above. "And I made it here first, so I win!"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, RED."

The sounds of tires screeching to a halt accompanied he sudden loss of motion. The redhead lost her smile and felt her jaw slacken when she heard a familiar, masculine voice that was carrying an undertone of stark amusement. She turned to the source, to see that the source was a familiar brown haired youth sitting on top of one of the cylindrical buildings, grinning down at her with the same grin she had on before. "Aw, gosh darnit, Venny! I thought I told you flying wasn't allowed!" she yelled, pointing at the male who she (correctly, but he wasn't going to say that) assumed had unleashed his Ukaku Kagune to beat her to Lowee.

At her pouty face, Vent laughed as he pushed himself off the ledge of the building he was on, landing on the ground with a thump before standing upright and merrily jogging towards her. "What are you talking about, all you said when you wanted to race was 'on your marks get set, go!' so fast it was more like one sentence." He replied with a catty smirk, several fingers on his forehead as he turned to his side. "Whelp, that's what you get when challenging VENT to a race." He boasted while RED fumed. Heh, he could understand those who inflate their ego a little more now, this shit felt GOOD.

It wasn't long before the others arrived too, having walked at a leisurely pace unlike the two childish members of their Party. Nepgear shuddered as she rubbed up and down her arms, trying to get some heat back into them while IF and Compa seemed less affected. Made sense, since they've been to Lowee before during previous adventures so they were used to the Climate. "Wow…" she remarked, looking around. "It's so… cold, but the scenery really takes your breath away…"

"Lowee is covered in snow all year." Compa explained to them all. She shuddered when a slight breeze blew by her, not realising that it had fluttered her skirt so that people behind her caught a glimpse of her underwear. The men there fainted via blood loss, while the women glared at them. Vent made sure not to look, though. He didn't want to have what happened one time IF caught several guys peeping on them while they changed at the Guild Building, happen to him too. "We should buy some warm undies to keep the cold away."

After getting under control, the male of the group shook his head as he gestured to his Rinkaku, which manifested in the form of 2 Tentacles. "Nah, I'm good. RC Cells can generate fire, remember? I'll use that to keep myself warm for the time being." He explained, while mentally he was adding. 'Perhaps I can use this to slow the process down a little…' he could hear Rasen sighing in his mind, but didn't comment on it.

Fortunately, his attention was taken along with the rest of them when IF interjected to that suggestion with a negative shake of the head. "Only if we have time to spare." She said, taking out one of her Phones. She began to fuss over it while continuing. "We need to gather info, pronto."

Everyone could understand her eagerness to get this done. They had wasted enough time already thanks to that rainstorm, plus ASIC had probably gotten a lead on them by now, considering their track record against the Party so far. Nepgear nodded her head firmly, clenching a fist over her chest in anxiety and anticipation. "I agree. To the guild then?" she suggested.

This time however, IF shook her head in refusal, much to Vent's surprise as her hair swayed back and forth, before settling back into its usual state when her head stopped moving. "No, it's straight to the Basilicom. I haven't heard anything bad about the Oracle here, so we'll be fine."

 **'Why do I get the feeling that she's just jinxed us?'**

'I have a feeling you may be right there, Rasen, nothing ever truly goes to plan. I mean, look at our last stops at the previous Nations.'

Unaware of the mental conversation between Vent and his mental tenant, the Party began to move along towards the Basilicom, which IF had confirmed was located at the centre of the Capital, the massive Castle-like building. For some reason, Rasen commented on how the Goddess of this Nation was probably compensating for something with such big a castle, though Vent wisely chose not to say anything.

* * *

They spent a couple hours searching the land, since they had little idea on how to get to the Basilicom. Despite it being smack in the middle of the City, Lowee was more complex in terms of streets than anticipated. They had tried asking for directions to the Basilicom, but they got lecherous stares or the directions weren't specific enough. More than a few men gave Vent jealous stares, prompting him to show a 'little' of his bloodlust with a brief flash of his Kakugan.

Needless to say it didn't take them long to stop glaring.

"I take it the Basilicom's up this road?" Nepgear questioned as she pointed to one of the paths that led to a higher level in the capital. She was finishing up with her task of talking to an elderly woman, whom had told her where to go to get to their destination.

Just as they were about top head on up to the Basilicom, Rasen spoke through his and Vent's mental link. **'Oi, master, I sense a commotion is nearby.'** He told the male with excited glee.

The male raised a brow at this as he thought back. 'Just how do you know that, Rasen? Did you hack into my senses without my permission again?'

 **'Yep…!'**

Meanwhile, RED was the one to notify the rest of them, pointing in the direction of the commotion. There, there was a large crowd gathered around a section of a slim street, the people spouting lots of inaudible chatter. "Lookit, ladies and Venny!" she exclaimed, bouncing up and down. "Someone's making a real commotion! Let's take a look!" before the Party could respond to that statement, RED was already running towards the crowd, leaving no choice for them to follow.

"We don't have time to get side-tracked, RED!" IF yelled as they got closer to the crowd. As they did so, however, something caught IF's eye when she managed to get a glimpse through the crowd. "Huh? That's…"

Indeed, within the centre of the crowd, a certain ASIC Underling was standing with several men in uniforms, a stack of crates behind the, filled with merchandise that they were advertising. Underling was wearing an apron over her usual suit, and was yelling through a Microphone, a large grin on her lips. "Step right up, folks! The fun and magical ASIC team is here to spread the good word!" she bellowed, her voice pronounced further thanks to her microphone. "Join ASIC today and you'll get instant access to any and all games you want to play, for free!"

The crowd cheered merrily, most of them being young teens and children, at the prospect of buying any game they wanted to free. The crowd began to head towards the men who carried pens and clip boards. They proceeded to sign recruitment forms while Underling grabbed a set of flyers and passed them out to any random passer-by's that happened to be in the vicinity.

By the time that the flyers were handed out, Underling looked and saw that the crowd had shrunk by half. Seeing that she was not being watched, the green haired lackey for ASIC dropped her 'show biz' façade and let her shoulders drop, with her face showing signs of both exhaustion and frustration. A sigh escaped her lips. "Why the hell do I gave to do the sales pitch grunt work? Passing out flyers and crap…" she muttered under her breath.

Underling then repressed a shudder as she remembered something dangerous. "Boss Tatara looked like he was going to skin me alive when I told him what happened back in Lastation. Thank the Deity of Sin that I got the Disk back, otherwise I'm sure he would have made me OWL's plaything…" the mere mention of Seidou Takizawa's codename was enough for Underling to tremble in fear. Some of the more insane Ghouls were incredibly wary of that Hybrid. Even with his dual nature, Seidou was more fucked-in-the-head than the average Ghoul, anyways, right up there alongside THAT Ghoul.

Memories of her previous encounters with a certain group of girls plus their young male companion returned to the forefront of her mind, electing an irritated scowl from the girl, who clenched her fists in anger. "I wouldn't have gotten stuck doing this if it weren't for those stupid brats!" her memories then focused on their male companion, which made Underling even angrier. "Then there's that stupid boy scout that joined them some time ago! I bet they get off on him like he's their boy toy or something, wouldn't put it past those brats..."

"Um, excuse me, are we the brats you're talking about?"

A certain voice spoke up, but in her anger Underling didn't realise she had a small audience, one that had varying reactions to her next comments. "Yeah, the dumb blonde chick, the transforming baby, the snob, the boy toy, and the "wifey" musclehead." Underling replied, waving a hand in their direction.

"Snob huh?" IF remarked, crossing her arms as she gave a light glare in Underling's direction. "I didn't know having proper manners came across that way." She ended with a sneer, insulting Underling's state of manner for insulting them like that.

Vent growled in anger as he shook a fist at her. "Hey! I am NOT a freaking boy toy! If my Kagune was out, it's be shaking with rage right now!" just to prove his point, Vent felt his Rinkaku snap out in the form of 2 long Tentacles, each one making a hand that gave Underling the middle finger, before receding back into him. "I stand corrected!"

Nepgear did a sigh in depression as she poked her fingers together, looking at the ground as her own self-derision began to kick in. "#sigh# Transforming baby…" she muttered, before looking to the others with a pleading look on her face. "Do I really look that little?"

"Nepgear, don't listen to her, you're fine as you are." Vent stated bluntly, forgetting his anger at the ASIC lackey in favour of consoling his companion. Nepgear looked and saw his comforting smile, and a smile soon broke out onto her features as her spirits were uplifted by his support.

Meanwhile, RED fumed as she glared heatedly at Underling, whether it was because of her comment or how she had hurt pone of her Wifeys was anyone's guess. "Wifey Musclehead? Don't be hatin' just because you're not on my hit-that list!" she yelled.

 **'I'd like to see that list, Master, could ya do me a solid, and…'**

'No.'

 **'Awwww…'**

"Uh huh…" finally, the gears in Underling's brain began to turn as she realised that she shouldn't be hearing voices. Fully turning in their direction, the green-haired girl could only gape and splutter in surprise at the fact that the people she was just talking about just magically appeared out of nowhere. "H-Hey, it's you all! Oh what the hell?! When'd you get here?! How'd you find me?!"

IF pointed to the crowd behind them, which somehow had been reduced to a vacant ASIC stand. The other workers were gone too. Unbeknownst to them, they had all fled in panic when they saw Vent's Kagune come out to play. "We weren't looking for you, but that commotion makes you stand out. And now, we can't let you get away." She ended, prepping to summon her Qatars.

RED pumped a fist before her as she added on to IF's sentence. "You've been a naughty girl, huh? I'm gonna have to punish you!" she stated seriously, but her stare was like that of a dirty old man evilly giggling while staring at something perverted. It added to the creepy aura she possessed that made Underling step back a bit.

Underling had to curse under her breath. "Damnit, this could be bad…" she muttered under her breath. With the way things were going, a battle was inevitable, and with the way things were she was likely to lose again. She didn't want to face her boss after getting another humiliating defeat by a bunch of brats and their boy toy. Scanning the surroundings, she noticed someone walking down the streets, a young kid by the looks of it, and a smirk spread across her features. 'This'll work!'

"Hey, you! Stray Kid!"

The 'Stray Kid' looked up after finishing off what looked like a lollipop and had disposed it into a nearby dumpster. "Huh?" she spoke, blinking in confusion. The kid was a young girl, no older than 8. Shew had shoulder length brown hair and dark blue eyes. She wore a winter jacket over plain grey and white overall dress, the jacket being pastel blue. The jacket itself had puffed sleeves and a frilled centre part with many golden buttons, a collar with a big bow and six puffballs strategically placed. At the ends of the cuff was white fur lining and a big golden button. She wore a large blue and white cap with boots that matched her jackets in colour. She also wore a shoulder purse.

Her confusion soon turned to horror with what happened next.

In a flash, Underling was before her, wrapping an arm around her neck tightly and keeping her close to her. Her free arm was holding a knife and was pressing it to the girl's neck. "Don't move, you're my ticket outta this mess." She snarled, the kid kicking the air with her legs since she was being hung by Underling's arm just above the ground. She then turned to the Party and smirked arrogantly. "Heh, you all better not try anything, or the kid gets it!"

Now, originally in canon Hyperdimension, Underling escapes with the girl and the party chases her. However, this isn't cannon, and all Underling saw was a flash of black before something rammed into her right in the face, sending her flying into a set of crates. The surprise of the attack made her drop her knife, fortunately not injuring the girl. During a hostage situation it was said that a captor would be first hesitant on doing anything during the first few seconds. Those seconds were all Vent needed to act, as he was well versed in acting under such circumstances, being a former vigilante, his response more than fit with those few seconds.

"Eek, that was fast!" Compa shrieked, jumping in both shock and slight panic as she saw the scene. She watched as the Tentacle that had struck wrapped protectively around the girl before bringing her over to its owner. That owner was an infuriated Vent as he glared heatedly towards the crates that Underling had crashed into from his surprise attack.

Slowly, he forced his mind to calm down as he released a deep breath. Looking to the girl in his Tentacle, the male asked in a low, soft voice. "Are you alright? Where are your parents?" his mismatched eyes couldn't be dealt with right now thanks to his Kagune, much to his displeasure as he knew that they would scare the poor girl.

His thoughts were proven right as the girl shook in his Tentacle, her eyes wide with fear as she stared at him. Sighing, Vent lowered her to the ground, unwrapping his Tentacle and drawing it back into himself once again. This allowed his Kakugan to revert to normal, something that sent the girl into a state of ease. Wordlessly, she nodded with a faint sound of uh huh.

"That was way too close there, Vent." IF finally got her composure back from what she had just seen as she gave a narrowed eye stare at the male. She clearly wasn't too pleased about what he had just did, even if it had worked and the girl was saved. "You saved the kid, but what would happen if she got hurt?"

The male turned to her, already aware of how angry she was at him, although in his mind she didn't have to worry about that. "No need to worry about that, I knew what I was doing. I've done this before, people that hold hostages hesitate in the first few seconds, that was all I would need to act."

"But still, the kid-"

"Um, guys? Underling is getting away." Nepgear's words broke the gradually escalating argument. The two quickly turned their heads to her direction, making Nepgear anxious. She didn't like being stared at so intently, but nonetheless she shakily pointed a nervous finger towards the direction of a retreating figure in the distance.

"OI, YOU GET THE FUCK BACK HERE!" Vent yelled, already dashing off after her. His legs were moving like that blue hedgehog's when he ran at top speed. He almost left his entire party caught up dust when he ran, not that he noticed.

RED fumed, and that was to be taken literally as her face was red with steam coming out her head. "How rude! That girl needs a spanking from RED's hand!" she bellowed, rushing off after the ASIC lackey.

Soon enough, everyone else began to chase her, leaving the kid who watched them in confusion. While she wondered what was going on, she heard a familiar voice call out to her. "Rom! There you are! What are you doing, standing around like that?"

* * *

Underling growled to herself as she fled the city towards the only place she could think of, a dungeon called 'Lowee Global Expo'. She was in a large factory-like area, which was covered in large blue tiles, some of them having been frozen over by the climate though, their systems having lost functionality long ago.

It was a Dungeon that was once a tourist attraction, however thanks to a mass monster attack that place now had become a monster infested playground. Lotta death happened over there, to the point where thoughts of reclaiming it were tossed out the window.

Nevertheless, she would rather be here instead of anywhere near those brats. Plus, with the furious look on that guy's face reminding her so much of a grim reaper out to get her soul, she would rather be anywhere than near them. "#PANT, PANT# Okay…" she muttered, her legs bent as she placed her hands on her kneecaps, heaving heavily. Once she was able to breathe normally again, Underling looked around while muttering further. "… I should be safe here…"

A hard aching made itself known on her face, and a snarl ripped from Underling's throat as she gripped it with her right hand, remembering the deadly smash she had endured fro that Kagune that brat possessed. "That bastard… he attacked a lady's face! Who the heck does that anymore, anyways?!" she shrieked, furious at the male member of the group chasing her. "I may be a bad guy, but you do NOT attack a lady in the face! That's just rude!"

Once she had vented her complaints to herself for a good solid minute, she then reached into her one-piece suit and pulled out a pale blue coloured Disk. The Disk had a glowing blur aura around it, with a crimson centre. The black button that needed to be pressed to activate it was located at the centre, making it as though it were a pupil. This gave the entire Disk the look of an eye, which had sent chills down her spine when she first got it. "Boss Tatara said to only use this as a last resort, hinting that whatever this thing does will be permanent, but… if it comes down to it…"

"Halt!"

Horror struck the greenhead as the familiar cry of that female redhead lesbo-chick rang throughout the dungeon, followed by a series of footsteps patting against the ground. Underling quickly turned around and backed up, till she was in the middle of an open space. The group soon were in view, rushing into the open space, all of them having angry looks on their faces. "Oh, come on! Already?!"

"You got nerve holding a kid hostage. You need to be punished for that one." IF commented. She didn't say that taking her out would likely delay the search for the Lowee Mascot for ASIC, but hey, whatever, right?

A scoff came from Underling as she tried to put on a brave front. "Hah, as if I would care what you broads think. ASIC is all about playing dirty ya know, so expect us to do that kind of thing a LOT." Truth be told though, Underling was more than reluctant to face off against the Party again, the last few times that had happened didn't end well for her. She may have to use that Disk after all, it was still in her hand, ready and waiting to be used. Tatara never told her what it did, just said that it would be different from the Abnormal Disks that spawned the Abnormal monsters.

He also hinted that it was some form of sustained power-up, but didn't say outright what that was.

RED huffed as she summoned her Yoyos. "Enough with the chitchat, let's just give this naughty girl her punishment through spanking!" she called out, to which everyone nodded, each of them arming themselves with their weapons. They all could feel the anticipation for what would come next.

Underling cursed as a small bead of sweat fell down her forehead. This was bad, she could tell that this would be a painful and humiliating beat down, at least if she didn't make a choice here and now: use the Disk and possibly use whatever it did to her advantage, or don't use it and receive the following beating. To her, the choice was clear, even if a part of her was hesitant due to remembering how Tatara looked when telling her about this Disk as he gave it to her.

Very few things seemed to rattle the stoic white haired Ghoul, he was someone who didn't give a damn about his subordinates, using them to fit his own needs. He was someone who rarely showed emotion at all, and the Mask he wore didn't help things. She knew all this, yet still called him her boss, because the Ghouls were much more powerful than her, just under ASIC's four leaders.

Yet, when she received the Disk, something about him felt… different. Nothing like concern for her or anything like that, but more reluctance as If he feared what would happen if something went wrong. Those thoughts didn't do her thoughts on the Disk any favours, but still she accepted the Gift gingerly, trying to hide her anxiety away.

'Alright boss, looks like I finally can know what you were so hesitant about when you gave me this thing!' she thought, before taking a deep breath and smirking, us usual arrogant personality back to what it was before as she laughed merrily. "Hahahaha! You fool, you just don't get it, do you?!" she bellowed, getting raised brows from the others. "Let's just say my boss gave me a toy that'll kick your useless asses!"

Vent stared dully at the laughing Underling, wondering if she had a crew loose, before looking to his comrades and stating his thoughts in a blunt manner. "Looks like the lackey is delusional. Shame, really… not."

IF nodded with her arms crossed, careful not to hurt anyone with her Qatars, yet. "Yep, looks like Underling is getting fantasies of actually being a step above what she really is." She added while heaving a heavy sigh. She was so done with this.

"Definitely a delusion…" Nepgear stated, just as bluntly but with an innocent look in her eyes, like she didn't realise what she was saying and was just saying it because everyone else was saying it.

Compa beamed with her usual cheery self, happily quipping and joining in on the insulting trend. "Mrs Underling has become Mrs Delusional Underling."

At this point, with their constant insults, Underling went red with anger, gritting her teeth so hard they would have cracked under the pressure any longer. She then raised the Disk in her hand to the air, shouting her thoughts to them. "Hah, say what you will when you see THIS!" she the pressed the centre of the Disk, which was revealed to the party to be a button.

"A Disk?" RED questioned, confusion etched onto her features as she tilted her head. Question marks popped in and out of existence above it, reflecting her current state at the moment. "What the heck's a Disk gonna do?"

"Whatever it is, lets be ready."

Upon IF's words, the Party readied themselves for whatever was going to happen. If they expected a monster to pop out of the Disk, they were sorely mistaken. A brilliant blue light shone from the disk, compressing around its form. When it was completely encased, strands of light crawled down Underling's arm, the green haired girl looking at this in stunned awe.

The light quickly spread over her body, layering itself within as Underling groaned, pain spreading within her from the places that the light touched. At first, it had been gradual, like a dull ache in her system. But as seconds passed it intensified ten fold, becoming almost mind-shattering. It hurt so bad, so bad, so bad! It felt as if she were being burned alive from the inside out by a heat as intense as the flames of an incinerator. Heh, it's be ironic for her to burn to death in Lowee of all places.

All the while, Underling's pained cries echoed throughout the Dungeon.

"Goodness, what's going on?!" Nepgear gasped with a hand over her mouth, watching the way Underling screamed and howled in pure agony as the process continued. Whatever it was, it looked exceedingly painful, no hellish. Even if she was an enemy, Nepgear couldn't help but feel a little bad for the ASIC Underling.

Compa shuddered in pure fear, various motions piling in her gut as she heard the agonizing screams from the girl before them. As a Nurse, such pained cries had a major effect on her, to the point where she had to force herself to not go over there and help Underling. Part of that force was the fact that's he didn't even think she could help since she didn't know what was going on in the first place. "What's happening to Mrs Delusional Underling?!" she exclaimed as she stepped back. "Iffy, I'm scared!" she cried before racing behind her brunette friend.

"This Wifey Seeker isn't liking what she's seeing…"

"Tch, looks like the lackey has some bite left in her after all.

IF rolled her eyes as she tensed, getting into a battle stance. Her Qatars gleamed in the sunlight that passed through a few windows. A bead of sweat formed on her forehead as she heard the tortured screams. Even if Underling was an enemy, even she wouldn't want to feel the pain from whatever was doing this to her. "Everyone, get ready! Looks like things are getting to the climax!"

Her words rung true as Underling's form froze itself in a position with her arms on her head, her back arched back and her legs spread apart. The girl then slumped forward, her hair covering her eyes as heavy breathing could be heard from her. The light cracked, the cracks spreading across her form, before shattering like glass to reveal her form...

...

...

...

...

Nothing.

It looked exactly the same, with no outward changes before them.

For a moment, they wondered if whatever happened to her had worked, or was it a dud like most of the things that Underling threw at them. Idly, Vent was the only one who noticed that the Disk she held was nowhere in sight. Where was it? Was that the cause? If so, was it a single use item like a Healing Pod?

Finally, Underling made movement, slowly raising her upper body but still kept her hair covering her eyes. The air suddenly shifted, becoming tense and heavy. A powerful weight settled on their chests as disturbing chills rose up their spines. All of them could feel it, something was wrong, something very… VERY wrong. Hell, even Vent was nervous as he sensed it.

Although, a part of him, namely his Ghoul side, was screeching in glee, like it was waiting for a challenger worthy of it pounding them into the ground, to show that it was the apex predator. There was only one reason why this could be, there was always a single instance that triggered this from his Ghoul side. That was the arrival of another predator like it, a predator above normal predators like the Monsters.

'Hey, hey now… That Disk didn't do what I think it did, did it?!' Vent shrieked within the confines of his mind. If that was indeed the case, then ASIC just got a whole league more dangerous, if they could do THAT to one of their lackeys, what's stopping them from repeating the process to others? He could hear the mad laughter that Rasen was doing within his mind's depths, who in contrast to the teen was completely happy with how this was going to turn out.

Slowly, a crimson aura began to spill out from her body like a slow running tap, overtaking it while swirling around her as her head slowly lifted upwards, her shoulders rolling back and forth. Disturbing cracking sounds echoed throughout the Dungeon, making the party shudder. Underling finally lifted her head fully, showing that her eyes were closed.

When she opened them, Underling blinked several times, before looking down at herself to see what the heck was happening to her. "Whoa, what is this?" she wondered, and for a moment she had been just as lost as they were. But, that didn't remain so for long, as she started feeling something swelling within her gut. She didn't know what it was, but the one thing she did know... was that she LIKED it. A slow grin etched itself onto her features as she aimed it at the Party. "Fuck yeah, this power… feels in-freaking-creadable! It's payback time, bitches!" she bellowed, laughing merrily. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA-Ugh!

Her laughter, loud and annoying as it was, got cut short when she gasped, a suddenly tight feeling shooting through her. Underling gasped, bending over while holding herself like she was about to burst.

The feeling got more and more intense as the party watched with apprehension, waiting to see what was going on. That didn't mean that they weren't nervous or scared. Vent only felt nervousness, while the girls were both.

Underling fell to her knees, gasping as she tried to force some air back into her lungs. Only one eye could be seen through her mess of hair, and that eye was sporting a dot-sized iris which shook wildly, veins visible on the side of her head as she gritted her teeth. A bubbling could be seen at the back of her waist, something trying to form itself from within her skin.

This was the case… for 4 seconds.

"Ugh… Guh… uhhhh… GUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The ASIC operative let out a pained scream at long last, throwing her head back and aiming her nightmarish scream towards the heavens, 4 long masses of blue exploding outwards from the back of her waist. The release made her fall onto all fours as she struggled to support herself while bearing the pain coursing through her system.

The masses swayed about from their release point, keeping the Party from getting close, not that they would be able to given their state of complete shock and horror. The masses swayed back and forth wildly, causing Underling extreme pain as she struggled to get to grips with herself. Her hands clutched the ground so tightly that small craters were made, and if her hands were bare then her nails would have bent backwards. Saliva dripped from her chin as her mouth hung open, a mix of snarls, grunts and groans escaping it.

Soon, they began to take solid shape, the masses slimming slightly. They soon became a series of 4 long, large blue Tentacles, each one pulsating brightly and constantly. To Vent, they were reminiscent of Kaneki Kens when he was just starting out as a Hybrid of human and Ghoul. They were covered in blue scales, crackling sounds accompanying their movement through the air.

They began to settle down moments later as Underling regained her composure, though her breathing was admittingly laboured. She panted as she stood up, in a slight crouch, as she rubbed the drool from her chin. "Ugh, damn I was drooling? Shit that's embarrassing…" she muttered under her breath, temporarily forgetting that the party was even there. "Still though, that was some wild ride… what the heck happened… huh?" Slowly, she looked up and backwards, seeing the Tentacles swaying behind her. "Holy shit! What the fuck, why do I…?!"

At her startled shout, the Tentacles froze stiff, before circling around her to show her their slim tips. Underling was momentarily creeped out by their behaviour, even had flashbacks of how Vent's Tentacles would slam into her, but the more she gazed at them, the less threatened she felt by them. For some reason, she felt… enchanted by them, as if they were the work of art. Slowly, she reached forth and stroked one of the Tentacles. The Tentacle shuddered in pleasure, and even Underling bit back the urge to moan. It was like touching these things was a pleasure to her for some reason.

So enraptured by her new limbs, Underling almost rejected the presence of the others from her mind entirely, but when she saw their shocked gazes, Underling snapped out her reverie and focused on the situation at hand, her Tentacles following her example by pointing their tips forwards. At that moment, they noticed that, thanks to the emergence of her Tentacles, that Underling's eyes had changed.

While the right eye was the usual red… the left one was red and black with veins across the side of her face: A Kakugan, belonging to a Ghoul.

"Heh, Looks like it's time I pay ya'll back for making fun of me all the time, you fucktards! I'll rip out your spines and shove em through your asses!"


	27. Chapter 27 - A Hybrid

**Chapter 27 - A Hybrid**

'Oh shit! She's a Hybrid now! My fears have been confirmed!' Those were Vent's thoughts before all of them were bombarded by swift Tentacle slashes. The Tentacles from Underling's apparent Rinkaku Kagune were not only strong, but fast and agile, too. He had barely crossed his arms in front of himself, Vier having returned to Ring Mode to protect it from the barrage, in time. With his Koukaku RC Cells, the male managed to tank the initial attack, but the others weren't so lucky.

Nepgear managed to summon her Energy Sword and parry several slashes, before she was thwacked in the face and sent to the ground. If she had transformed prior to the battle, then she would have lasted a couple more slashes from this Rinkaku before being thrown back. RED followed suit when she saw her Wifey number 1 get hit, getting a Tentacle to the back of her skull that knocked her onto Nepgear's stomach, much to the CPU Candidate's chagrin.

Compa and IF were a little better off, but even they met a fate akin to the two downed girls. The only difference was that IF was knocked down and a Tentacle smashed on her leg, a cracking sound indicating that she had broken more than a few bones. A cry of agony ripped from IF's throat, which was silenced when Compa was grabbed by the waist and hurled on top of her.

Only he managed to retain himself through the constant barrage of Tentacles, thanks to his Quadra type Kagune. His Ghoul side helped by reinforcing his body with RC Cells, as his Kakugan activated. 'That Disk must have somehow transferred Ghoul DNA into the one that pressed it, turning them into a Hybrid!' he theorized as his Rinkaku snapped out from behind him, thwacking the offending appendages away from him. 'But, what does that mean? Does this power come permanently? If so, then it's like the One-eyed Ghoul Surgery. According to the Wiki, the One-Eyed Ghoul Surgery only produced 3 successful Hybrids… Kaneki Ken, Kurona and Nashiro Yasuhisa. Those Hybrids… were 3 of the 1200 subjects. Many of those experimented on died as a direct result, with survivors becoming deformed creatures of limited intelligence. While the refined version produced more of them, it's nothing compared to the lives lost to it.'

Vent had to growl to himself, cracking his finger as his Rinkaku thwacked another barrage on his person. Nepgear had gotten up at this point, and now was doing all she could to dodge the Tentacles to find time to transform. 'Like Kurona said on Rue Island, Doctor Kano is one mad scientist alright.'

Deciding to stop thinking for now, Vent dashed forwards with a single Koukaku blade formed, to which Underling responded by pulling her Pipe out her Inventory and charging forth as well. The two collided in a flurry of exchanges. The two traded a few blows, circling around each other to get some ground. However, neither did so, Vent because of how Agile Underling was being and Underling because of her inexperience with her Kagune.

While they were both Hybrids, Vent and Underling differed in one aspect: experience. Vent had been a Hybrid for much longer than Underling had, hell she had just risen to that status a few minutes ago. It would be foolish to think she had full control over her Kagune just yet. Vent himself had full control and experience with his Kagune under his belt, which explained how their stalemate was broken swiftly and quickly.

Underling cursed as she jumped back, slicing the air before her opponent with 2 Tentacles. Vent blocked with his Koukaku before flinging his Rinkaku in her direction. She quickly stabbed the lower 2 Tentacles into the wall a fair distance to her left, then had them pull her out the way at the last second. The Rinkaku impaled the ground where she once was about to land at, the ground breaking under the impact.

'Tch, this bitch is getting annoying…' Vent thought as he decided to get serious. Crackling sounds filled the air as Vent grinned, his RC Armour forming over his body, the visor and faceplates closed to hide his features and to show he was battle ready.

His Rinkaku shuddered as Negatron began flowing through it, mixing with his RC Cells. Under Negatron-based influence, Vent saw how his Rinkaku became covered in crimson winds, winds that covered them from their tips down to half their bodies. His eyes narrowed in thought as he slashed one towards Underling, and a long wind blade was released from the tip. The wind blade flew true, slicing through the air like its namesake and Underling ducked.

Too bad she forgot about her Kagune, because 1 Tentacle was sliced off as the wind blade passed overhead. "Argh! Gah! The hell?! Shit, this hurts!" Underling cried out, gritting her teeth as she looked at the severed limb, then at its useless piece that fell to the ground. Her eyes widened when she remembered something, however. "Wait, isn't a Kagune able to…?" she murmured under her breath, before she stopped when thin blue strands came out the severed Tentacle and lunged at the piece, which did the same. They mixed and mangled together, pulling the piece back onto the severed stump, restoring the Tentacle.

Vent was too busy checking his weaponised Tentacles out to notice this. 'Looks like Negatron gives my Tentacles wind abilities, while my Ukaku has Lighting traits. Wonder what my Koukaku and Bikaku will have…' he mused, but didn't ponder it long as he noticed Underling's apparent regeneration. 'Looks like her Ghoul side can regenerate…'

A bright flash stopped Vent and Underling from continuing, drawing their attention to Nepgear who was now in her HDD state. "Hah, looks like you managed to transform from a normal baby, to a slightly less normal baby." The green haired ASIC lackey mocked, grinning as her Kagune readied itself.

Nepgear glanced at her friends IF, Compa and RED, whom were tending to the first girl's leg. They would be too caught up with that to help them, but they weren't worried. RED could defend them while Compa healed IF's leg. Nepgear had her own healing ability that she could use as a substitute for Compa's healing Skills, while Vent had his own self-regeneration. They would be fine.

* * *

"YO, WHASSUP BITCHES?!"

… Maybe not, because out of nowhere, Seidou appeared with his Ukaku blade in motion, slashing down on Vent's shoulder, the one that had Its Koukaku out. The male cried out in pain and surprise and fell to one knee, his arm, shoulder and bit of his side dangling to the side separate from his body.

"Ohmygosh, Vent?!" Nepgear shrieked, horror filling her stomach as she flew over to him, kneeling beside him as he gritted his teeth. Tendrils emerged from his mostly severed limb and main body, mixing and mangling together into a mass of red. They began to pull the severed piece back into place, the male cringing every second as cracking and snapping sounds were emitted from his wound.

The male looked up with one eye, his human eye, closed. "I-I'm good. That attack j-just caught me off guard…" he told her. Vent looked towards the two Ghoulish enemies they were facing, his sole open eye narrowing into a deadly glare. "Even more importantly… just what the fuck is Seidou doing here?"

"Why I'm glad you asked, Hybrid!" Seidou replied as he bounced on the spot, doing what looked like a dance. "Just here to pick up a certain package that needs to be brought home. I'm sure you can get ma meaning, but in case you don't…" Seidou suddenly went behind Underling, who exclaimed in surprise. He placed his hands on her shoulders with a tight grip, making the girl tense and still her movement. "This little tart!"

Vent heaved a sigh when his injury fully regenerated, his armour having reformed itself. He slowly stood on his own two feet, allowing Nepgear to strafe a little away from him and get into a battle stance. "Let me guess, Tatara's turning people into Hybrids now? Is he really that desperate?"

Artificially turning people into Hybrids... That sounded more like something Doctor Kanou would have done, that mad scientist. He would have done it solely for medical purposes, as despite the horrible shit he had done in the Manga, he was a damn good doctor who had devoted himself to his research. If it weren't for him, and to an extent Furuta, then hid world wouldn't have Tokyo Ghoul. Though, the HOW in making those Disks still eluded him. This hadn't been seen before in the Manga, so he couldn't rely on that knowledge right now.

One question appeared in his mind, and that was the curiosity if Underling could still live as a human at this point...?

Seidou put his hand on his chin, humming in thought with a faux innocent look on his face that sent disturbing chills up the duo's spines. "Weeeeeell, I guess, he says it should have turned her into a full-on Ghoul, but on the off chance that this happened I was to bring her back, didn't say much why though. Anyways, since we're all here, let's have some fun, shall we?"

Both Vent and Nepgear tensed as they readied themselves, Vent swiftly forming his other Koukaku into his shield for extra defence. 'It's to be expected of Seidou… to be able to cut through my armour like this.' He thought to himself. The moment that they did, Seidou was on them like a bullet, slamming his feet into his shield and swinging his blade into Vent's face. However, Vent was able to wrap his Tentacles around It to cut off its movement before thrusting his own blade forwards. Seidou however, reformed his Kagune into several Tentacles, freeing it and making them swat the blade away. He then jumped off Vent's shield and landed before him, sliding to a halt while Underling shot past him, having her Pipe ready as she engaged Nepgear.

"Heh, your armour's flimsy, it reminds me of a certain floppy…" Seidou grinned, though he didn't look disappointed at the armour's effectiveness. Vent narrowed his eyes, true his armour formed from all four of his RC Cell Types, but it was improvable. That much he was willing to admit to his fellow Hybrid.

Still though, this situation was becoming grimmer by the minute. Not only were IF, Compa and RED incapacitated, they now had two Ghouls to deal with, not just any Ghouls, Hybrids as well. Separated and fragmented, their strength was not what it should be. Hell, even of the first 3 girls he mentioned could fight, their weapons wouldn't affect the Ghoul Human Hybrids much, if anything all it would do was piss them off. That wasn't a god idea, especially since one of them had his Kakuhou from the One-Eyed-Owl.

Shit, he hoped they didn't end up facing Yoshimura or worse, Eto herself, in the future. They would be nightmares in their own rights.

His thoughts were interrupted when Seidou reformed his Kagune into its plum form and launched a volley of Shards in his direction. Vent quickly readied his Tentacles and made them serve in front of him, knocking the Shards away from his position. His Koukaku reformed into their Gauntlet forms as Vent charge forth, aiming to engage in close combat while Seidou was busy with his Shards.

The other Hybrid witnessed what was happening at the last second, so he stopped his Shards and morphed his Ukaku into a large shield, blocking the initial gauntlet strike. The strike made Seidou slide back a bit, much to his joy as he burst into deranged laughter. "Yes! Yes, this is it! This is way better than with the floppy!"

"Shut it, don't belittle Amon like that!" Vent roared as he landed on the ground, cracked his fingers and launched a volley of punches in Seidou's direction. "ORAORAORAORAORA!" his punches collided against the shield without restraint. His Rinkaku gathered Negatron into them and formed winds over their bodies, swiftly launching several wind blades at Seidou's Kagune.

"Alley-up!"

Only for Seidou to jump into the air with his Ukaku morphing into its blade form once again. "Hahahaha! Yes, yes-yes-yes!" he exclaimed before bringing his Kagune down on Vent, who raised his Gauntlets to block it. The ground beneath him broke as his legs buckled under the pressure. Vent gritted his teeth at the pressure while his limbs shook slightly, Seidou's taunting laughter not helping matters.

* * *

Meanwhile with Nepgear, she and Underling were trading blows like no tomorrow. Underling giggled as she fought, her Kagune and Ghoul side having supplied her the energy needed to keep up with the CPU Candidate. "Heh, being a Hybrid rocks! To think I could fight a CPU like this!" she bellowed, one mighty swing knocking Nepgear away.

The CPU Candidate for Planeptune raised her Gunblade and aimed it at her "I will not let you win; I'll never lose again! SHARE CANNON!" she bellowed, firing her Skill towards Underling.

"Ahhhhhhhh oh nooooo, I'm gonna be killed…. NOT!" Underling jeered as her Rinkaku combined. Having been fighting for some time allowed her some better control over her Kagune, enough for her to make better shapes with it. Though she wouldn't admit to having used Vent as an inspiration for this, since she wasn't that smart. A Kagune's shape was determined by one's intelligence after all.

The Rinkaku formed a large arm with a massive fist on the end, which swung in a reverse backhand, swatting the attack and sending it to a nearby wall. The Skill distorted and blew up, leaving a giant gaping hole in it. Smoke rolled off the damaged areas as an aftereffect from Nepgear's Skill.

Reforming to its default Tentacles form, Underling gazed at the carnage, utterly gobsmacked. "Whoa… what would have happened if she hit me with that?" she wondered, before shuddering at the thought and shaking her head to get rid of them. "N-Not important right now, what's important is to…" she turned and faced Nepgear, only to raise her Pipe to block a slash from her. "Take this broad down!"

"You'll not be getting that done easily!" Nepgear retorted as she activated another Skill. "MIRAGE DNCE!" she quickly went into a series of slashes at Underling, who blocked them with her Pipe. Her reflexes enhanced by her Ghoul side allowed her to do this, and when Nepgear went for the final slash, Underling stopped it by securing her Gunblade with her Rinkaku and lifting her into the air, slamming her repeatedly onto the ground before tossing her away. Her Gunblade fell to the floor, before vanishing in a bright light.

Nepgear slid across the floor, stopping on a crouch with one hand on the floor to slow her movement. When she stopped, Nepgear threw her free hand to the side and recalled her Gunblade, which reappeared into her hand in a flash of light. 'Not good, without Vent these fights are going to be much harder. Underling's strength is increasing with each hit; she's getting better at handling her Ghoul side…' she thought to herself.

She then charged forth, with Underling doing the same. Underling jumped and launched her Tentacles at her, for Nepgear to deflect them with her Gunblade, before blocking a Pipe strike to the face. Underling then did a double kick, which connected and knocked the CPU Candidate back a bit.

Landing, Underling once more launched her Tentacles, which succeeded this time and managed to secure her limbs, stopping her movement. "Oh no…!" Nepgear exclaimed, sweat rolling down her forehead as she struggled to break free of the Rinkaku's hold, but to no avail.

The grin from Underling's lips turned maniacal as she laughed uproariously, holding her Pipe to her shoulder. "Hahahahaha! I've so dreamed of this moment! Of when I can finally get even with you bitch!" she yelled, before rushing at her with the intent of giving Nepgear a pounding of a lifetime. Nepgear struggled all she wanted, she couldn't break free from Underlings's Kagune. Plus, Vent couldn't help her, since he was too busy with Seidou, while IF was being tended to by Compa and RED.

Things looked bleak for her, until…

* * *

"Hey, bad lady! THINK FAST!"

"Whuh?" Underling blinked, before something slammed into her from the side, setting Nepgear free from her Kagune and sending the ASIC operative into a pile of crates, which fell on top of her.

Nepgear blinked in shock, she had seen what it was, and was…. Befuddled to see that it was a massive block of ice, which had come in from out of nowhere. "Huh? Goodness, where did that block of ice come from?" she wondered, before turning to the direction the ice came from, and saw two figures floating in the middle of the hole in the wall her Skill had made.

The figure on the right was a petite childish-looking girl with pink hair with messy bangs, with one strand going over her shoulder and blue eyes. The other had the same hairstyle, but the hair fell down the opposite side with their colours inverted: blue hair and pink eyes. Both had power button symbols, signifying their status as CPUs.

Both wore the same outfits: white suit-like outfits resembling bathing suits with pink on the outer parts and neck, and long gloves with a thick pink line going down the centre and at the top. The boot like parts connected to the body suits via outer bands with big pink pieces while the boots themselves were all white except for the feet parts. Both also had small white wings with pink outlines, shaped like flower petals.

"Eh…? Who are…?"

Just as Nepgear said this, Underling's Kagune broke free from the crates, smashing everything off its wielder as Underling crawled out the pile of crates. "Whoa, what the hell? I feel like a train or some shit slammed into me…" she muttered, cradling her head with one hand. When she looked up and saw who was responsible, her eyes bulged out of their sockets. "Oh crap, you've got be kidding! Two CPUs?! This is so messed up!" she exclaimed in despair. She wanted to finish Nepgear off at last with this awesome power, and yet these two just HAD to appear and ruin it.

Meanwhile, the two girls, who looked like they were twins with different hair colours as well as eye colours, were glaring heatedly at the green haired Hybrid. The pink haired one went first, pointing a staff at her opponent, which was all white save for a pink centre on the tip. "How dare you make Rom play Hostage and make her cry! You'll pay dummy!"

"You little…! I'll rip you to shreds-!"

"DEMON FLAMES!" a familiar tomboyish voice yelled out as Underling was hit with a fiery skill. She screamed in anger, pain and frustration while her Tentacles swayed about, trying to extinguish the flames around them. The flames vanished on their own, and Underling glared heatedly towards IF, who was smirking with her leg fully healed. The Rinkaku looked slightly burned as the Tentacles began to regenerate. "Heh, caught you by surprise there!"

RED fumed, smoke coming out her ears with her fists in front of her chest. "Now that we're free, we can pay you back for harming my beloved Wifey Candidate number 1!" she then looked up and noticed the two new arrivals, her eyes quickly becoming stars as she gazed at them. 2Oooooh, who are they? More Wifeys! Twin Wifeys to boot! That's almost a premium item!"

"Whoever they are, it'll have to wait, we got some payback for Underling." IF chastised the female redhead. She then looked to Underling who was readying her repaired Kagune to attack. A smirk slowly spread across her face as a vicious gleam appeared in her green eyes. "This bitch needs some payback for what she did to Gear and Vent."

Underling scoffed as she faced off against her enemies, her Pipe back in hand after a Tentacle retrieved it for her. "Pft, bitch please. I'm too fabulous to lose to the likes of you." She taunted, before grinning and making the 'come' gesture. "But by all means, come to your doom."

She then looked to the Twins, before plucking a Disk from her coat and slamming it into the ground. "Glad I packed this in for situations like this. Enjoy this Monster, bitches!" she bellowed as the Disk spawned a monster, which was a 'Fenrisulfr'.

The Fenrisulfr roared as it rushed towards the Twins, who readied themselves to fight it.

* * *

Back with the Party, IF rolled her eyes, unable to resist her own snarky comments. "Wow, a, little arrogant, aren't we? Let me show you how wrong you really are." With that, she, RED and Compa charged forthwith the twin girls flying overhead, launching various ice attacks at the Fenrisulfr, which attacked them in return.

RED went first, launching her Yoyos at Underling who blocked with her Pipe. She spun them in a circle to attack her again, which Underling found harder to block thanks to their high speed and repetition. She then jumped back to allow IF to strike with both her Qatars, launching a deadly dance of slashes that Underling blocked and parried.

Finally, Underling struck back, lashing out with her Kagune. The Tentacles smacked IF in the face, and the stomach, sending her flying back before grabbing RED and slamming her into the ground, tossing her towards Compa, who eeped and jumped out the way. Obviously when RED landed and recovered, she aimed a displeased look towards the young Nurse. "Aw, come on Nurse Wifey, you shoulda helped your precious husband instead of just letting her fall to the ground."

"I'm sorry, it's just I couldn't help it and…"

While the two were arguing, IF ran back in, dodging several Tentacles before jumping into a roundhouse kick towards Underling's face. She then landed and swept Underling off her feet, before spinning into a rising straight kick into her side, sending underling flying away from her. "How's that feel, bitch?!"

As she flew, Underling used her Kagune to get a better landing, stabbing it into the ground to halt herself in mid-air. She spent a moment to recover, before she saw IF already on her with a slash to her face. She knew her Ghoul side prevented normal weapons from hurting, so she was curious on why IF would think that would work.

Just as the Qatars were swung, Underling's eyes widened when she saw how they suddenly erupted into flames, the flames from IF's DEMON FLAMES Skill. The flaming sword cut a diagonal slash across Underling's face, bypassing the defensive Skill afforded by her Ghoul side, before the gash erupted into flames, setting the ASIC operative's entire body on fire. "Gaaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhhh!"

Landing on one knee, IF gave a smug grin at her plan having worked. "Heh, looks like it worked. Magic seems to have the effect on you that I wanted, so I simply imbued my Qatars with it." She remarked, looking up at her Qatars. She then frowned, seeing the state they were in. "Although, looks like this trick does a number on them since they aren't meant to be used this way." She muttered. Her Qatars were literally covered with cracks and dents made by the energy usually meant for her Skill.

She watched as Underling stumbled backwards, clutching her face as she screamed and howled in agony, her Kagune swishing about erratically as flames licked away at them. She was like this for a few moments, at least 5 minutes, before she fell to her knees with her hands on her face and her body bent towards the ground, her Kagune swishing above her.

The flames dissipated a second later, revealing a badly burned, damaged Underling. Her body was littered with burn marks and bruises. Several cuts on her face got cauterized, giving her immense pain. Despite the hellish pain she was in, Underling still had the gall to give a fierce glare at IF, her mismatched eyes filled with unbridled rage towards her, her and the rest of the party.

Looking at her from his end of the battle, Seidou jumped back to avoid a slash from Vent's Koukaku and quipped with. "Whoops, looks like I had too much fun and left my comrade to rot. Oh well, time to end this, I guess." Seidou launched a barrage of Shards at Vent, who blocked them with his own Kagune. However, that was what Seidou wanted as he threw a ball at Vent's feet. The ball exploded in a bright white light, signifying that it was a flashbang.

"Guh!" the male grunted as he covered his eyes, temporarily blinded by the Flashbang as Seidou jumped to Underling's side. He picked her up as if a firefighter would an unconscious human, lifting her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. At this point, Underling lost the fight to remain conscious, slumping on his shoulder as her Kagune retracted into her. "Not bad guys, you might make worthy snacks yet, but till that time, I have to bide you all farewell." He threw down a smoke bomb, which erupted into smoke, making the Party cover their eyes.

When the smoke faded, the group looked and saw that they were gone. "There they go." IF remarked with frustration. She had been so close to beating Underling that she felt unsatisfied that she had escaped yet again. Though nothing could be done now, so she calmed herself down. One good thing was apparent though, her little trick worked. "At least we know magic enhanced weapons can deal damage to them." She mused, before looking down at her Qatars. She frowned sadly as she looked at them. "I'll have to get new ones at this rate…"

She then shook her head before regrouping with the others, Vent having retracted his Kagune into him once more. "Looks like we're done on our end. Shall we see how those two were doing?" he suggested, putting his hands on the back of his head. Any wound he had sustained from that battle had already healed, and his RC Armour had receded into him as well.

"Yeah sure, let's see." Nepgear nodded in agreement as they turned to where the two girls were fighting the Fenrisulfr. They were just in time too, for the twins had already weakened the Monster thoroughly and were about to finish it off. The two raised their Staffs and called out a Skill each, their weapons glowing their respective colours. "ICICLE TORNADO/ COLD SANCTUARY!"

From their Staffs, a large tornado with chunks of ice was launched towards the monster, hitting and doing considerable damage. Some of the areas on the Fenrisulfr's body turned blue, as if to indicate frostbite. Then, an icy cold wind slammed into it, knocking it down and ending the monster's life as it exploded into white particles.

The two girls beamed and high fived each other at the success of their victory. "Oh yeah, we're the best!" the pink haired girl cheered. Judging from her demeanour and actions, the party assumed that she was a spunky one, with an energetic personality. In a sense, she could be a white-hot flame that is constantly roaring, showing off its power and might.

Her twin nodded in agreement. "The bestest…" she meekly said. This showed them that the blunette was the opposite of the pinkette in terms of politeness. She seemed to be the shyer one, timider than the pinkette. In a sense, she was like a cool blue flame, burning calmly and not showing what it was really like until the situation called for it.

"Everyone's all done, it seems." Compa noted, beaming happily. She was glad that things had turned out for the better, as things had become almost grave for a while during that situation. Nepgear had almost died by Underling's hand, while Vent had his hand full dealing with Seidou. While he would have been able to take him on honestly, chances were that he wouldn't last as long if he had 2 Hybrids to contend with.

Her comment drew the two girl's attention, just now realising that they weren't alone. The pinkette was the first to comment as she gave them all suspicious stares. "Wait. Who're these people?" she questioned, glancing at her sister to let her know she was directing the question towards her.

The blunette meekly responded, nervously gripping her Staff as she remembered what had happened. "They… tried to help me… only the boy did it…," she explained glancing towards Vent meaningfully.

At first, Vent was not sure of what she was talking about, but when he looked at her posture, demeanour and features, he briefly had a flashback to the scared kid he rescued from Underling. The kid with the brown hair wearing blue, he pictured her in his mind and made the connection to the blunette before him. "Wait… you're the one that I helped with Underling, aren't you?" he questioned her, the blunette nodding. She had a mixed expression of joy and nervousness on her face, and he could figure out why. His 'rescue' could have potentially scared her more than Underling ever could.

Despite her words, the other girl gave them an angry glare, her eyes sharpening as she pointed her staff at them accusingly. "Oh, really? Well they sucked at it, didn't they? Big fat failures, huh?" she spoke angrily, before looking at the male and her gaze softened slightly. "Though… I'll give that guy credit, since he actually succeeded."

' **It feels weird when we're complimented by a kid…'** Rasen commented, now that the fight was over he was back to his usual self, his psychotic, joking self. The way he spoke this time seemed like he was sweat dropping within the confines of Vent's mind.

The male rolled his eyes mentally at his tenant's words. 'Well, she's not wrong, is she? Out of all of us, I was the only one who actually did anything that time.' He responded, of which Rasen voiced his agreement to that comment, albeit unsurely.

IF released a sigh of resignation. She wanted to argue that they had been about to do something, but the truth was brutal. It was Vent that stopped Underling that time, if a bit reckless since he did it risking the kid's life. Still though, despite her grievances with it, it did work out in the end. "Hard to argue with the pure logic of a kid…"

Nepgear decided to ask them a question that had been bugging her since she first saw the two kids, more specifically their eyes. "Excuse me, but are you the two CPU Candidates of Lowee?" she questioned. Sher remembered that Kei had said to them that there were 2 Candidates in Lowee, though it wasn't explicitly said.

This time, the pinkette's face turned to one of pride and joy as the two floated before them. "Yep! I'm Ram, and this is Rom!" she cheerfully explained, pointing at herself when she introduced herself as Ram, then at the other girl who she called Rom. The two then hugged each other, with one of their legs each bent backwards. Ram winked at them with a piece sign, Rom doing the same without the wink. "We're the CPU's awesome twin sisters!"

'Twins, huh…? Does that mean that Leanbox doesn't have a Candidate? Histoire said that there was only four Candidates in Gamindustri so it makes sense.' Vent wondered in his mind, but didn't say anything for the moment. Turned out he didn't need to, for IF, who had recovered from her resignation, and begun walking over to him. She patted him on the shoulder to get his attention, and jerked a thumb to the side. "Can we talk over there while Gear talks to those two?"

Understanding lit up in his eyes when he gazed at her stern face and heard her equally stern tone. The male nodded as they began to walk away from the group while they conversed.

* * *

They made their way to a corner far from the others before IF turned to him. "Alright, I figure you know what I'm talking about, but I'm going to say it anyways: that was reckless what you did there, that kid could have gotten hurt or worse!"

"IF." Vent began, his voice equally as firm and calm as hers was. "I knew what I was doing. Like I said, the first few seconds of a hostage situation, for the one doing the hostage, is full of hesitation. Underling had the signs and I took it. I had very confidence I could save Rom's life from her." He explained evenly. Being a former Vigilante, Vent could recall a number of hostage situations he had been a part of, situations that he resolved in this way, as well as others. It was true what he said, Vent knew what he was doing, since he'd done it many times.

The brunette glanced to the side briefly. "Alright, I admit that you have a point, there." She then regained her firm glare as she continued. "But nevertheless, it was still reckless, next time things may not work out that way. Not everything can be handled with recklessness!" She finally shouted at the end. Part of her feared the others may hear her, but they were too absorbed in whatever they were doing to care. She had a brief flashback to seeing the CPUs in their suspended state in the Gamindustri Graveyard, and her eyes lowered, with a trace of sadness and frustration creeping into those orbs. "It's not always like that…"

The male frowned as he figured out what was bothering her. He pondered on what she was saying, until he concluded it in his mind. 'She's worried I'll be like the CPUs, and angry over how reckless I was… I didn't expect her to be so concerned for me like this, I always thought out of the girls, she was the one who cared for me the least.' He though, awed and honestly a bit touched. Guess he shouldn't underestimate how these girls see him as one of their own, then.

With a sigh, the male felt that there was only one thing to do, but didn't quite like the thought. "I see your point, IF, I really do… but I cannot guarantee that I will stop. Before you yell at me, let me explain. Back at my home world I was a Vigilante, you know this. There were many times where I found myself in situations where enemies took hostages for advantages against me. I learned that they hesitate for a few seconds, and trained myself to act in those seconds. There were cases where I succeeded in rescuing the hostages and they're brought back to their loved ones. Though I admit that I don't resort to it every time, I usually wait for the prime opportunity to attack."

"This time…" the male's eyes darkened considerably as he clenched his fists, his left eye beginning to glow to signify the beginning of his Kakugan's emergence. "This time, that was the best I could think of. I reacted on instinct, as the first case I used this method was to save 5-year-old boy from a murderous psychopath. Ever since, it became my go-to method of rescuing young kids from the guilty, so I cannot say I am sorry for my actions, because that would be a lie. But what I CAN guarantee is that I will try to think about the best possible means of action."

Upon hearing his words and his explanation, IF couldn't help but sigh again. She should have guessed that this was the reason, he did tell her of some of his stories as a Vigilante, of the kind of scum he dealt with. Some of them did indeed take hostages, and all of them tended to be young victims, easily exploited. It was easy to see how he would react in such a situation now that she thought about it. She just got rattled by seeing it for herself. The brunette figured that this was the best he could do, since it wasn't easy to get rid of something so raw, so primal. "Just remember that this isn't your world, where danger lurks around every corner. You don't have to be so guarded all the time, we can be of help, you know. After all, that's what friends do, they help each other."

After that, she turned on her heels and walked away from him, back to the Party. She did this and missed the look of depression that formed on Vent's features, features which he schooled a second later before he began to follow her. His fists were clenched as he felt a trail of sweat roll down his face. 'IF… thanks for considering me a friend, but… you don't realise how wrong you are about this…'


	28. Chapter 28 - Rest and Recovery

**Chapter 28 - Rest and Recovery**

When the two returned to the Party, the sight of a tired Nepgear, Compa and RED on the ground greeted them. They were heaving and gasping while the twin CPU Candidates were nowhere in sight. IF raised a brow as she was the one to speak for the two of them. "Okay, what happened here? Why are you guys on the ground like you've ran marathons non-stop and where's the Lowee Candidates?" she interrogated them.

After she regained her breath, Nepgear explained to them what happened, how the CPU Candidates saw them as enemies when Nepgear told them her identity and attacked them. They had a small fight and they were able to win, but the CPU Candidates fled afterwards. Vent groaned as he face-palmed. "Me and IF leave for what a few minutes?" he questioned, glancing at the brown-haired woman who nodded at him. "Alright, a few minutes, and what do you do? Ugh, it'll be harder to get them to co-operate with us now."

Nepgear lowered her head, agreeing with him if a little dejected at his words. "I'm sorry…"

IF shook her head at her. "Well, we can't do anything about it now. Now I see why Kei wished us luck… Let's stop for the day and go to the Basilicom tomorrow, I found us a hotel when we were searching for directions. Let's go!" the idea of a nap and a night's rest was a good idea for the girls who had fought the Lowee Candidates, while Vent wanted to rest and recover his RC Cells. Thus, he agreed with this plan, as they all got up, had a few healing items to get their strength back for the long walk, and headed back to the Dungeon's exit.

* * *

That night, the Party was resting in their hotel. IF had ordered a Pizza much to RED's enjoyment. She loved Pizza because of the red on it, which made everyone chuckle at the girl's, maybe, pun? Anyways, they hung out, played games, made jokes at each other's expense which unbeknownst to the girls was mostly done by Rasen who got scolded by Vent, even though he knew that the voice wouldn't listen anyways. They did their own thing and generally relaxed after a hard day's work.

Although, Vent made sure to get some training in, which led to a spar with Nepgear, who wanted to test a few skills she was developing. He was amazed at what she was learning, and how much she was growing as a fighter. She may very well become his equal if he didn't step up his game and combine Negatron with his Kagune while he handled Vier himself.

Everyone managed to get their own rooms, fortunately for those who wanted to sleep without hearing loud snores from the young Nurse. However, not all of them managed to get to sleep.

In her room, Nepgear was tossing and turning in her bed, the cover at her chest level with her hair free of its hairpins. They were on a small table beside her bed, with her sailor dress hanging on a hanger on the door. Her eyes tightened as a moan of discontent escaped her lips. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't get to sleep. Her worry about the Lowee Candidates was preventing such bliss.

Eventually, she just gave up and opened her eyes. Groggily, she threw the covers off her, exposing her pink two-piece Pyjamas with dark purple stars pattered over them. They covered her body entirely, with her feet bare. She did a short stretch, a 'munya' sound escaping her lips. Afterwards, she wetted her mouth a bit before getting out of bed.

After silently opening and closing the door, Nepgear wandered the corridors and eventually found herself by Vent's room. 'Strange, why did I go near Vent's room? Usually it would be somewhere close to IF or Compa's room whenever Ii have these strolls…' she wondered to herself, but her fatigue reminded her that she shouldn't care about such differences. She looked down and noticed a light shining from beneath the door, meaning that Vent was still awake.

Well, she wasn't getting any sleep for a while, that's for sure…

Stepping towards the door, Nepgear took a gulp and steeled herself. This was the first time that she would be volunteering to go into a guy's room, a GUY's room. This wasn't something she had experience with, so she was full of questions on what it would be like. Would she come out 'intact'? Would the room be messy and unsanitary? Would there be boxes of food and discarded pudding cups everywhere? Actually, that sounded more like her sister's room.

She decided to take a risk and knocked on the door several times. She nearly jumped when she saw a single Tentacle shoot through the door lock, reforming its Tip into a Ghoulish Kakugan that blinked at her several times. It then receded and the door was unlocked. When it opened, it revealed that the holder was one of Vent's Rinkaku Tentacles. It retreated back to its master, who was sitting on his bed thinking, a hand cupping his chin and dressed in his nightwear.

Nepgear's first thought was 'Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh I didn't think he slept shirtless...!' And the rest of her thoughts were just mumbo jumbo. Her eyes were glued to his upper body and its physique, a hot red hue over her cheeks. This was the first time she saw a guy half naked like this, and she didn't know what to think about it.

The CPU Candidate had been asked out by many guys in her life, most of them doing dramatic stuff then asking her to a date, almost demanding actually. It slightly scared her so she would politely say no and move on, much to their horror. Any that got too demanding were dealt with by either IF or her protective older sister. Because of this, she had not been exposed to a guy half naked before.

But a part of her couldn't help but admit that Vent did look appealing. He took care of himself well.

"You alright, Nepgear?" the male's voice roused her from her thoughts. She looked and saw that he had stopped whatever it was that he had been doing and was looking at her with a raised brow, concern written over his features as he rolled his legs off the bed and stood up. "Your face is getting red, it's kinda worrisome and we don't need another RED in the party if you know what I mean."

His attempt at a joke may have been a little bad, but it seemed to work as Nepgear chuckled a bit, her mind taken off those previous thoughts as she walked in, nodding as she closed the door behind her. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just… I can't sleep." She admitted, looking down with embarrassment. "I left to take a stroll, and found myself here, and well. You know the rest." She chuckled sheepishly, and the male returned it with a small smile. He then sat back down on his bed and offered a space for her. She gratefully nodded and took the space next to him, brushing some hair from her face and tucking it behind her ear. "What about you? What's got you up this late?"

"Just finished calling Histoire about something. Before we left for Lastation, she gave me a Smartphone to contact her with. May not play games, but it functions like I want it to." He explained, gesturing to the small device resting on his bed behind them. "Wanna tell me why you can't sleep? Maybe talking about it can help." He offered, being the ear that would listen to her troubles if she wanted to.

While most of her wanted to keep it to herself, since she didn't like the thought of troubling the male, she had to admit he had done right by her a number of times. Plus, it wasn't like she had much else to do at the moment, so why not? IF and Compa were asleep by now, same with RED. Although he had to be bound and gagged when she was caught trying to sneak into her room for some 'Wifey Bonding' as she called it. "Um, well… I just got worried about… what happened." She ended, looking down and placing her hands on her lap.

She frowned, recalling what had happened with the twins Rom and Ram. "What have I done wrong, Vent? Every time we introduce ourselves to the Candidate, they always attack us. First Uni, now Rom and Ram. Maybe it's just me, maybe I'm the one at fault here-" she tried to say, however Vent cut her off.

"Hell to the no. What the Lowee kids did was childish and wrong, you have NO reason to be sorry, Nepgear." He told her firmly, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. "You can't automatically assume one's an enemy just because they come from a different country. Those two don't get it because they're kids; I'm sure that whoever's acting as their guardian will see this and give them the proper punishment."

Nepgear sniffled a bit, looking close to breaking down, so Vent continued. "The difference between Uni and them is that Uni was just venting her anger; mind the pun, at you because you escaped the Graveyard and not her sister. Comes from neglect and a 'notice me sempai' attitude. Its selfish and wrong, but in her situation it was understandable. As for Rom and Ram, they don't have the same circumstances. They're kids, they don't know any better. Whoever is their guardian, though I'm not sure how that'll work since they're ageless CPUs, but whoever looks after them will agree with you that they had no right to attack you like they did. So don't you dare think this is your fault, Nepgear."

In the end, he pulled her into a one-armed hug. He seemed to do that a lot for this girl, he hoped he wasn't being too repetitive. Then again, this girl seemed to like hugs, judging from the comforting purr that escaped her lips. "There, there, it's alright. Besides, I bet that if Compa and IF heard this they'll say the same thing I am, you are NOT in the wrong here, they are."

As Nepgear was pulled into his chest, the girl felt the full heat of his physique, and couldn't help but think about how firm it was. This was a man's chest. She had felt it multiple times throughout their journey, but never full-on like this. Nonetheless, the heat that Vent's chest brought her was nothing compared to the warmth his words brought her, a soft smile of content forming on her features. "Thanks Vent. I'm glad you're here with us… You always seem to know what to say to cheer me up." she mused, snuggling into his embrace with her arms wrapping around him.

The male smirked down at her, feeling her change of mood and that made him happy. While he was a bit sad that she had such a low opinion of herself, it wasn't anything new. He was just glad he was able to cheer her up and make her feel better about herself. He did feel a little flustered when her arms wrapped around him, but didn't pay it much heed. "Hey, you and I are companions, Nepgear, if you want to talk to someone about your problems, then I'll listen."

Hearing his words made Nepgear smile even more, her eyes brightening to the level of happiness that could rival the sun with how happy she was feeling. A low giggle of giddiness escaped her lips as she wrapped herself in the warmth provided by him. His touch was almost like her sister's whenever she had nightmares and the two would sleep in Neptune's bed with her arms wrapped around her, and vice versa.

While remembering this, an idea came to her, one that her innocent mind didn't process in any lewd or perverted way as she looked up at the male with an adorable expression on her face. "Um… would you mind if… I stay with you for the night?" she asked him, and the teen lost control over his jaw.

It would have been worse had he been anyone else, but the clack jawed expression he was sporting was enough to convey just how much he had been caught off guard by her strange request. "Wh-wha-?!" he tried to speak, but words wouldn't form from his throat. Only strange sounds escaped there, and he swore he could hear Rasen laughing his usual maniacal laughter in the recesses of his mind, along with a **'Bow Chicka Wow-Wow!'**

Goddamnit, Rasen!

Finally, he managed to find his voice once more, and poke with a hushed tone and a slight level of panic. "What do you mean stay the night? That sounds a little strange sleeping with a guy you're not in a relationship with, or married to for that matter."

No matter what people thought of him, Vent knew one thing about him was true: that he was by no means a normal teenage male. He had put down numerous criminals, most of them being rapists, murderers and paedophiles. Thus, he found it ludicrous to do the things they got their comeuppance for, not only did it make him look like a hypocrite, it would also insult his inner vigilante. In any normal circumstance this would not happen under any circumstance.

However, Nepgear wasn't just any normal person, she was a companion, a comrade-in-arms. He had been stunned that he was referred to by IF as a friend, for as long as he'd been in his party he hadn't expected that to happen. The point was, that he had to make sure she was of her right mind when wanting something like this. It wouldn't do for him to do anything else without her express permission, something he was sure wasn't wat she was trying to do here.

While she blushed at the implicates, Nepgear didn't let up on the matter as she explained to him. "My sister, Neptune and I, after I would have nightmares she'd let me sleep with her, and um, well… since she's not here, and I doubt I'll get much sleep on my own, could you…" she trailed off and didn't finish the sentence she was saying, but Nepgear didn't have to, he could tell what she wanted to say. Heck, she had just said it before.

Now Vent was in a bit of a pickle. His instincts were screaming at him to deny her request as he didn't want to shatter his image as a respectable gentleman… at least, mostly respectable. He hated perversion; he hated it even more if the person was unwilling to it. It was one of the most disgusting things in the world to him. However, the look Nepgear showed him right then, how passionate and pleading it was to him, at least in his eyes, showed him that she really wanted it… no, she needed it. Jesus, just how lonely is this girl?

"But, what about IF or Compa, hell even RED?" he questioned her as he tried to persuade her that he wasn't exactly the best choice. Gender for one, but then there was the fact that they may be caught in a compromising position in the morning. He would rather die than taint Nepgear's honor as a maiden. Call him old fashioned all you wished, but Vent would respect women goddamnit, he knew there were few men who did these days. Also RED would likely try to castrate him for trying to 'steal her Wifey Candidate #1'

Nepgear looked down, seemingly pondering his words, before she shook her head vehemently. "IF is already asleep right now, and likes her own space. Compa, while she's a great hugger, snores like a bear and RED is… um… well, RED." She finally replied, and the innocent way she just burned Compa and RED was not lost on the male. If this were any other circumstance, he would have burst into laughter. The teenage Hybrid figured she could feel it with her close proximity to his chest, anyways.

In the end, much to the amusement of his tenant, Vent finally sighed in defeat, before giving her a small smile and rubbing the top of her head. "Alright, I'll do it. Beats sleeping alone, I guess." He replied, damnit there was no resisting that face. He felt his pride as a warrior take a serious blow, Vent had long since assumed himself impervious to the power of the cuteness, several villains had tried to use it on him only to fail miserably, but now that he was with Nepgear even his iron-clad barriers were weakening in light of her cuteness.

"Really? Yay, hug time!" Nepgear cheered, throwing herself onto him and somehow dropping the covers over them with her legs. A happy giggle escaped her lips as she snuggled onto him, her head just beneath his neck. The male had to release a grunt of surprise at the strength this girl suddenly showed when she collided with him, how the heck did she get that kind of strength for just one moment?

 **'** **Daaaaaamn, that girl is THIRSSSSSSTY for the D!'** Rasen commented in his mind, his psychotic laughter echoing it and taunting him at the same time, though he wasn't sure about the intentions right there. Nevertheless, his comments did NOT help matters for him, especially with regards to keeping his cool.

'Not the time, Rasen, so not the time!' He yelled in his mind. 'And stop with the perverted crap, Nepgear isn't like that at all!' Rasen ignored him, like usual, as his cackles faded into the back of his mind. Glancing down at the CPU Candidate, he was about to say something, but the sight of her sleeping form stopped it. How did she get to sleep that quickly? Was his chest that comfortable? Nah, she must be tired, that was the only explanation.

His mind calmed down, as did his body, which decreased in its rigidness, allowing Nepgear to snuggle closer to him. Unconsciously, Vent wrapped his arms around her pulling her closer. A Tentacle from his Rinkaku Kagune shot across the room and put out the lights by flicking the switch next to the door, and before long, it retracted into him as he fell into slumber.

Neither of them noticed a pair of green eyes watching them.

* * *

The next morning, Vent's eyes slowly opened as he prepped for the day, or he would have if it weren't for the weight on his chest. Looking down and seeing a big blob of purple, Vent remembered the events of the previous night after pondering a bit. 'That's right, Nepgear wanted to sleep next to me because she couldn't sleep herself thanks to her worry. I hope that I was able to help her, at least…' he thought with a frown of concern.

Observing Nepgear's position, Vent realised something: she was in another position this time. Instead of layering herself on top of him like she did last night, she had slid most of her upper body of him and pressed her chest into his side, with her arms still wrapped around him and her head on his shoulder blade. Their legs were intertwined, making mobility with them impossible at this point.

'Wow…' for the first time since he came to this world, Vent found himself blown away by something non-battle related. He could only stare in awe and amazement at how peaceful Nepgear looked right now, and he was ignoring how her arms tightened on him as a pleased hum escaped her lips, making her even more beautiful in his eyes. He recalled what she had said about her past experiences in boys was like, and wished he could kick them in the balls for being so stupid.

Then again, they probably never have seen this side of Nepgear before due to only looking on the surface; never looking deeper into how beautiful she was on the inside. She really was 'pure', with a hear that, will filled with anxiety and doubts, was as bright and loving as a star was bright. She was a good person, with an appealing personality, and right now that was made clear to him with no ways to deny or ignore it. How the hell has she not found her significant other yet?

Truly, these days' males were stupid and one of their own saying that meant something.

His eyes widened when he heard Nepgear's heartbeat change, as well as her moans. He felt her hands clutched him which meant that she was awakening. The male tensed as he made sure to not move a muscle while Nepgear's eyes slowly opened. She closed them again while sitting up, fortunately untangling their legs in the process as she ended up in a Japanese sitting position. She stretched her arms and let out a 'munya' from her lips, elongating the air part with tears in the corners of her eyes. In any other situation, Vent would be blown away by her cuteness right now.

When she lowered her arms, and her eyes opened, Nepgear looked around, humming softly to herself. "Huh? Where…? This isn't my room, so…" she mumbled, before looking down and seeing the shirtless male before her. "… oh, hey Vent, how are you?" she asked him tiredly, rubbing some sleep from her eyes in yet another adorable manner.

The teen didn't answer as he awaited the inevitable. It soon came when Nepgear's eyes widened in realisation, her mouth opening for a scream. That wouldn't be allowed, so Vent shot up and covered her mouth with one hand. "Shhhh, don't scream! You'll attract attention." He hissed in a hushed manner.

Nepgear's eyes widened some more, this time with realisation as memories resurfaced about the previous night. She tried to speak, but his hand muffled her voice, so she could only nod in response. The male nodded as well, gratitude shining in his eyes as he removed his hand. "Mwah!" Nepgear made that sound when his hand was gone, as she took in a deep intake of air. "Air, it feels so good…!" she moaned, before sighing deeply as the male sweat dropped.

When she looked down again, she resumed her childish demeanour, blushing like a schoolgirl before her crush as she poked her index fingers together. "U-Um… um… thank you, Vent… thanks for the comfort. It was an amazing sleep…" she whispered, looking downwards to hide her eyes from him, although hr face was red and steaming at this point. "You were an amazing hugger."

"Heh…" Vent shrugged his shoulders, smiling in a reassuring manner while patting her on the head. "No worries there, girl. Happy to help." Nepgear beamed at his words, words that had nothing but honesty in them. Truly she was grateful to have such an understanding and supportive friend with her. She let out a soft laugh as he rubbed her head, liking the affectionate gesture.

The male made to suggest they get ready, however something else popped into his mind, and a frown formed on his lips. "Hey, Nepgear. May I share something with you?" he asked her. When he received a nod from the girl, he gave a deep sigh as he leaned backwards, hands on the bed for support. "I'm… admittingly quite worried. What happened with Underling has opened my eyes to some disturbing possibilities."

"Eh? What do you mean?" Nepgear questioned, though as she watched his haunted expression she got the feeling that she may not have wanted to know. Nevertheless, Vent had done right by her, so she would respond in kind.

Looking up at her, Vent stared dead into Nepgear's eyes, the CPU Candidate noticing how worried he was by looking into them. "The thing about Hybridisation is that, like the ones born from animals, their lifespans aren't as great. They don't live as long as non-hybrids. Artificial One Eyed Ghouls are no exception. In fact, I doubt Underling has much long left considering, since Artificial Hybrids will start aging once they reach the mid 20-marks. Even if she's with the enemy, that kind of fate isn't something that can be ignored." He explained.

Nepgear gasped lightly, her breath hitching as she clenched her fists nervously. The scope of what he said hit home, but she had a feeling that he wasn't done yet, and that feeling was proven right when he continued. "On the other hand, she would have been willing to take this burden in the situation she was in, but under normal circumstances I bet she would have chosen otherwise, even if she got killed for it. But, what happens if they start taking possible candidates by force and forcing them to hybridise? Lots of people's lived will be ruined forever, with no chance of getting those lost years back unless they cannibalise, and even then it's not something people would want to do."

…

…

Okay, what Vent told her indeed sounded creepy and disturbing. If something like that would happen, then a whole load of tragedy would be added to this story, people being taken captive against their will before being tormented and forced to become Artificial One-Eyed Ghouls. It wasn't a fate that could be taken lightly, the fate of being forced to eat either monsters or your own kind wasn't something people would want. She could imagine the look of pure terror on her sister's face at the thought of never being able to eat pudding ever again, to be forced to eat the flesh of monsters or her own people. All too suddenly, what Vet said took a much darker turn in her mind.

Still though, Nepgear had to console her friend, who wouldn't after hearing something as heavy as that? Reaching out, Nepgear wrapped her arms around his head and pulled him into a hug. She noticed that he tensed for a moment, a brief crackling sound filling the air, before he relaxed and the sound vanished. "Then we just have to do what we can, which is finding the Mascots, saving the CPUs and stopping ASIC. Don't let these other thoughts get to you, it's not the Vent I would know. The Vent I know is cool, calm, slightly teasing but always getting the job done."

Vent released a small chuckle after a moment of silence. What she said had meant to be uplifting, but he couldn't help but feel a bitterness to it as well. After all, she didn't know the truth about him, or rather, the real him, the one thing he tried to hide no matter what. His true self. There was a reason why he idolised Kaneki Ken from the Manga Tokyo Ghoul and its sequel Tokyo Ghoul Re.

Nevertheless, he had to act like he was feeling better, so he looked up at Nepgear and gave a small smile, patting her on the head and rubbing it affectionately. "Yeah, your right, Nepgear, thanks. Fell a lot better already." He half-lied. It was the thought that counted, and that indeed made him feel a little better.

"No probs!" she chirped happily, before she stood up from the bed and headed towards the door. "We should probably get dressed, we gotta get to the Basilicom for info on the Mascot." Vent nodded his head to tat and Nepgear left the room, closing the door behind hr with an audible 'click!' afterwards.

Now that he was alone, Vent decided that he would need to converse with Rasen. There was one other detail he neglected to tell Nepgear, one that only they should know about at the moment. 'Hey Rasen, you up?'

 **'** **Ugh, I am now… Goddess, these mornings never get easier… what do you want?'** his tenant asked him rudely with an irritated undertone. Yeah, it was a fact that Rasen was NOT a morning person. Good to know for reference and teasing in the future.

Nevertheless, this wasn't the time to be teasing Rasen right now. This was serious business he needed to discuss. 'Since Underling has become a Hybrid now, do you think she'll start developing one of THOSE? If so, then she becomes even more threatening before.' He questioned, his clothes morphing into his regular attire.

Hearing the topic in question got Rasen's attention quickly, his sleepiness vanishing from his voice in an instant. **'Oh, shit your right. That ain't good, if Underling gets one of HOSE, she'll be more of a threat than ever? We may have to start taking her seriously in the future. Good thing we talked to Histoire about a few methods of fighting Ghouls earlier, and by we, I mean you.'**

'Pft, obviously, only I can hear you. You ever think about the possibility of being able to talk to the others, not just me?'

If he had a body, Rasen would scoff and give Vent a disapproving look right now. **'Now that's a stupid question and you know it, Master. I don't need to see broads annoying me every second of the day, I got you for that! I'd rather just be here giving you guidance, with some spunk-ass commentary to boot! Plus, why would I want them to hear our discussions about secret stuff, huh?'**

This was one of the rare occasions that Vent admitted to Rasen having a point. It would be bad if the girls heard about their discussions. Privacy was something that wasn't always bad. Sometimes privacy is necessary, and considering what they were talking about, it was best that way. For example, if he were to, well, go on a rampage with THAT, then the girls would not be able to stop him. After all, their weapons wouldn't break his skin, let alone damage him. If he was alone, then that wouldn't happen. Plus, there was this meme he'd looked up on the internet one day:

That sometimes, the quietest people had the loudest minds.

'… Good point, anyways, I should finish up here so we can head out.'

"Hey Vent, how's it going?"

"Hoh Jesus!" Vent practically jumped with his heart escaping his chest when he heard someone say his name so suddenly. He placed a hand on his chest and attempted to calm his breathing, and when he was calm again he gave an irritated glare towards the one responsible, which happened to be IF. Said girl was standing by the door, leaning on the side with her arms crossed and an amused smirk on her features at having startled the normally composed male. "What the hell, girl? When'd you get in here?"

The brunette waved an arm dismissively. "Just now, actually. You were so caught in your thoughts you didn't hear me. I knocked and everything." She replied, and saw the male calm down slightly from the information. It was his fault he didn't pay attention to his surroundings. At least he didn't spear the person who shocked him on instinct with his Kagune. "Anyways, moving on. You and Gear seem to be getting close, huh."

When he heard those words, Vent's eyes shot open wide with shock and realisation. There was a heavy implication in those words, and with the knowing gleam in her eyes, the male realised what she was trying to say without directly saying it. "I-uh-I-um, I haven't done anything lewd, honest." he tried to say, but his panic override his senses for the moment. "Nepgear was just-"

Raising a hand, IF shushed the male. "Don't worry about it, I saw everything from the beginning. Got all curious on why Gear was walking around so late at night so I followed her to your room. Gotta admit it looked rather… concerning. Glad to see that I was wrong." She explained to him, causing the teen to sigh with relief. "However, you may need to be careful."

The warning in that tone was not lost on the male as he looked at IF who had a sterner visage than before. "Nepgear's an innocent girl, she does things because she doesn't know social standards, thanks to Nep and Histoire. While you are alright personality-wise right now, don't let it get to your head. Plus, you'll likely get some from RED soon enough. She's gonna be ballistic and see it as you stealing her wifey."

Vent groaned with realisation, face palming as he tilted his head downwards, shaking it. "Ugh, that's right. So not what I need in the morning…"

Seeing his plight, IF mentally winced in pity for him, thoughts he soon banished as she spoke dismissively. "You'll get the hang of it, you always seem to have a knack for getting yourself out of these situations. It's like you're that kid who gets left behind when his large family goes on holiday oversees." He was pretty sure he knew the reference she was making, but thanks to his current predicament, he didn't comment on it.

"Alright, thanks for letting em know ahead of time, IF. I'll be on the lookout." The male thanked her with a small smile, His earlier self-despairing thoughts had been forgotten for the time being, something Rasen mentally deduced would be a good thing to lift his spirits. Plus, thanking the girl who gave you a heads-up like that seemed to be the right thing to do in this situation.

The brunette smirked at him, flicking a hair strand with a hand before resting it on her hip. "Don't mention it, dude. Figured you'd need some knowledge beforehand. Think of it as thanks for helping Gear out. She's gotten quite attached to you it seems, makes you practically one of us already." She remarked thoughtfully.

"Thanks, that means a lot…" Truly, Vent meant every word he said just then, he was insanely grateful that he was fitting in with their dynamic. He had always seen that the girls were struggling to fit his appearance into their everyday lives, so it was a relief to see that their efforts were bearing fruit. They'd come a long way since the beginning when his trustworthiness was doubted.

"…Also, I have a question, for you, about what you said to Gear."

Quirking a brow in her direction, Vent quickly noticed the subtle change from confident too nervous in her tone. IF'S eyes glanced downwards, fixating themselves on a spot on the other side of the door's frame. She seemed to be playing with the hair strand she had flicked with the hand that was once on her hip too. Something was up, and it took a few seconds for the pieces to click into place in the male's mind.

Nervous posture + reference to the previous night = concerns

"You wondering if I meant it just for her or for everyone?" he asked her with a questioning tint in his voice. He thought the answer to that question would have been as obvious as the day was bright for someone as skilled as the brunette.

Said brunette gave a groan of frustration, her eyes contorting in frustrated anger as she scratched her head. "N-No, it's just that… hypothetically, if any of us had problems, you'd listen, right?"

He was pretty sure he had just answered that, but what the heck, right? He'll give to her as blunt as possible. 'Why does that sound weird to me? Whatever, I have more important things to think about.' He thought before opening his mouth. "Sure, I'm your friend, as you told me before." Vent replied, remembering what IF had said after the battle with Underling at the Lowee Global Expo. "I may not have must experience with people, but I'm pretty sure friends are supposed to listen to each other's problems and find ways to help, right?"

The male hoped he got that right, friends weren't something he was used to having. After all, he had lived a dark, serious and lonely life back in his world, fighting crime, protecting innocents and punishing the guilty. Never making friends, Vent had always been on his own, though it was mostly by choice, since any friend he could have made would certainly be targeted to get to him. Being a vigilante was a lonely occupation, but it was perfect for someone as pathetic as him.

Turned out that he did get it right, thank god, when IF blushed slightly while nodding in affirmation. "R-Right, that's right! I did say that, yes I did!" she stammered, her face getting redder and redder by the minute as her composure gradually slipped away.

Okay, NOW Vent was concerned. His protective instincts awoke as he stood up and began walking towards her. "Hey, IF, are you alright? Your face is getting red; do you have a fever? Have you caught a cold from Lowee's climate?" he asked her with worry and urgency. If that was the case she had to remain in bed, this instant! The Basilicom could wait, their comrades state was much more important!

Yet, before he could get close, IF stepped back, throwing her hands in front of her and shaking them, as well as her head. "No-no-no-no, I'm good! Really! Oh, that's right, I gotta be somewhere, breakfast is ready soon-yeah soon! So c-c-c-come down soon, ya hear? Or I'll get my dragons eye on your ass!"

Her comment about the dragon's eye thing stopped Vent in his tracks, surprise etched onto his face. This gave her enough time to, with a boiling face, bolt out of the room and down the stairs. Meanwhile, the male was stunned as he tried to process what she just said. Several times he had heard IF say these strange things when she thought nobody would hear, and he had to question it in his mind. 'What the hell was up with her? And… is IF a Chuunbiyou?'


	29. Chapter 29 - Meeting Lowee's Oracle

**Chapter 29 - Meeting the Oracle**

BOY was RED pissed when he went out of his room.

A second after getting him into her sights, she had been on him like a heat-seeking missile. She had begun drilling into him about stealing her Wifey Goddess's purity when she wasn't looking, while trying to give him a proper thrashing. 2 things stopped her however, one of them being Vent's Rinkaku Kagune, which would snap out and block her strikes, before knocking her away from him. RED would not be deterred however as she repeatedly tried to get onto him, but his Rinkaku would foil every attempt she made.

The other thing was an annoyed IF, who had seemed to calm down from her previous posterior. He had figured it best not to ask about the `dragon's eye comment, much to Rasen's disappointment, since he liked seeing her embarrassed, the damn sadist. She had bonked her on the head when she made to go for another attempt to get on his back, telling her that she herself confirmed that Nepgear hadn't lost her purity to anyone, much to Vent's relief. Although she did question him why his Kagune came out while RED grumbled to herself.

Upon getting the explanation from Rasen, Vent had explained to them that his Kagune had a self-defence mechanism to it, and would automatically defend him against any threat when he didn't command it. That meant that if RED or anyone else tried to kill him for whatever reason, then it would make sure they would never be able to do so again.

This indeed got chills to go down their spines, more so when the Tentacles twitched in their direction.

Nevertheless, they managed to get through the morning relatively intact. At least, the girls did as Vent, despite his Kagune's best effort's, did get a few injuries from RED's fists. Girl was tough, he'll give her that, but they were minor at best and were healed before he and the girls even left the building.

* * *

The Party finally arrived at Lowee's Basilicom, and already Vent could see the differences between Lastation and Lowee's Basilicoms. While they were the same appearance wise, like with Planeptune, Lowee's Basilicom generated an aura of friendliness and calmness, while the Lastation one gave a sense of strict working and professional manners. 'Wow, this place feels so much better than Lastation's…'

 **'** **You and me both, Master. You and me both.'**

Stepping forwards, Nepgear stepped forwards, before turning to address the rest of the group with a twirl, hands behind her back. "All that excitement set us back, but we finally made it to the Basilicom." She said, heaving a sigh of relief. After that stuff that happened with Underling, Seidou and the twin CPU Candidates, it was an honest relief that they managed to get here without attracting more trouble. The rest of the group nodded in agreement, as Nepgear turned back around and spoke. "Pardon us, anyone here?"

IF tilted her head and leaned sideways, whispering into Compa's ear behind her hand so nobody could hear them. "Her intro was better, but don't you think this reminds you of something?"

Compa nodded her head in excitement, though she tried her best to conceal it as she replied with. "Yep, just like Nep-Nep. They are sisters after all." She gave a small giggle, which was followed by IF's chortle of amusement. Vent and RED gave them both clueless look, wondering what they were talking about. Well, RED anyways, but Vent's enhanced senses picked up what they were saying. He was only clueless as to the context to it.

However, he didn't get a chance to ponder on it as they were soon greeted by a figure walking towards them, having come from a nearby entrance. "Yes, welcome to Lowee's Basilicom."

The new arrival was a woman, though at first Vent wasn't sure if she was an adult or a newly graduated university student with her attire. Nevertheless, Rasen quickly confirmed her to be an adult woman judging by the soothing, calm aura she gave off. She was a tall, light skinned young woman, at least in her mid to early 20's, who had very long milk-blue hair, worn in low pigtails held with big orange-yellow circled pieces with short bangs. Her eyes were dark blue with a red square pair of glasses in front of them.

She wore a short white dress under a red, long jacket like robe worn open with gold lining and buttons. The sleeves puff below her elbow and have long cuffs; while at her neck was a collar and red bow with a golden badge. A matching graduate hat was on her head with two long white tassels on opposite ends, while she also had a pair of see-through, frilled stockings and red heels.

When she looked at Nepgear, her eyes narrowed slightly, as if pondering something, before they widened in realisation. "Oh my..." She gasped, putting a hand over her mouth in a ladylike manner. Her voice was silky smooth like her dress, and had a certain soft feel to those who heard it. "Forgive my presumption, but are you planeptune's…?"

'Intelligent too, well I guess she's someone high up, and considering the pattern, I'd say she's Lowee's Oracle.' Vent thought to his mental tenant, who snorted in agreement.

Nepgear also realised what she was going to say next when she trailed off, as she closed her eyes and gave a pleasant nod, a bright smile on her lips. "Yes, I'm Nepgear, the CPU Candidate of Planeptune. We came here today because we want to ask for help." She explained.

Glancing towards IF, Vent noticed the lack of tension on her shoulders, and quickly concluded she wasn't feeling as irked as she was with Lastation's Oracle. Already things were looking up for them, compared to yesterday, at least. This was good since they needed some form of respite from those events.

The woman nodded her head in understanding, an intelligent gleam in her eye that matched that of a detective, but it was brief. "For a CPU Candidate to come all this way must mean there's some very important matter to discuss." She deduced, and would have continued with her current course of speech had she not realised something if the widening of her eyes in realisation and apology was any indication. "Pardon my manners. I am Mina Nishizawa, Lowee's Oracle. How may I be of service?"

'Called it/ **Called it!'**

It took them a short time, but they were able to explain their situation to the Oracle, about their quest from Histoire for the four Mascots, and what they planned to do with their collective powers. In the end, Lowee's Oracle had adopted a serious, stern persona as she cupped her chin thoughtfully, bobbing her head several times during the lecture to show she understood.

When it was finish, she lowered her hand and formed a quick summary. "I see… So you are seeking our Mascot's power."

"So…?"

Nepgear's hopeful expression fell when the Oracle shook her head sadly and with regret. "Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do to help you right now."

 **'** **At least she's not acting like a shrewd businesswoman like Kei did…'** Rasen commented within his mind, while Compa clenched her fists nervously, her throat tightening at the response. "Uh Oh. Why not?" she asked her.

"Lowee's Mascot has a very important mission." Mina replied, and when she saw the curious looks on their faces, she continued to explain her point. "If it leaves, our nation will be swallowed up by unprecedented chaos. When IF asked what that mission was exactly, Vent almost laughed as he predicted what the woman would say next. "I do apologise, but the importance of its mission is so great that all relevant information is classified."

Vent shook his head, finally getting to say something to the slightly disappointed Guild Agent. "You should have seen that coming, IF. If what we're told is being accurate, then this mission would have to be kept hush-hush to keep people from trying to mess with it, and to be honest she has only just met us, and we're from another Nation. It's like telling a possible rapist where you live and when the doors will be unlocked."

Mina frowned at the boy while IF gave a roll of her eyes yet offered no retort, but nonetheless agreed with him. "As crude as that analogy is, I must admit that it fits with the situation well."

RED however, wasn't having anything of it as she flailed her arms back and forth while single-stomping her right leg on the ground. "But there are bad people out there trying to find and beat the Mascots into a pulp!" she protested.

Seeing how RED was getting more and more frustrated, IF decided to continue the subject away from prying into classified information. She was sure that RED might do something to get them kicked out otherwise, knowing her childish behaviour. "If she can't tell us anything, we'll just have to track it the old-fashioned way."

The old fashioned way, to track it by looking around, asking questions and investigating rumours. While the task was daunting, considering their track record with that method, it seemed to be the only option they had at this point. An idea popped into Vent's head however, one that he didn't mention right now since it wasn't the time.

While the Party was getting ready, Mina offered a small, supportive smile as well as a polite bow. "I trust that no harm will come to it should you find it, so I have no reason to stop you." Those words did settle some of their nerves, though not all of them. It was a small comfort to know that the Oracle wouldn't be hindering their search in any way.

Secretly, she was being way better than Kei was, personality wise at least.

"Okay…" a downtrodden Compa nodded reluctantly, turning to leave with the others.

Watching them, Mina couldn't help but feel a little guilty. Plus, considering how long their journey must have been to get here, she may give them something at least. "It would be rude of me to shoo away such well-travelled guests without giving you something, so…" she patted her chin with her hand's index finger, making the Party turn around to look at her again. "How about a story? Do you know Lowee's lore regarding the Deity of Sin—Arfoire?"

'Arfoire…? So that's the real name of the Deity of Sin…' Vent thought with narrowed eyes. He then placed one hand on the side of his neck, massaging it while another thought came to mind. 'Why does that name sound somewhat familiar?' the male didn't know why, but the moment he heard the word Arfoire, he felt something click inside his mind, and got the feeling that he knew that name from somewhere. Yet, when he tried to pinpoint where he heard that name, all he got was blanks.

"I've never heard any stories about it, no." Nepgear responded with uncertainty, shaking her head as the entire Party listened intently, waiting for the woman to begin her tale. None of them had heard much about the Deity of Sin save for what Histoire had told them, and that she was linked to ASIC in some manner. Aside from that, they knew little about her.

Soon, she began to speak on this subject. "Arfoire is said to have been born in Lowee." She began, but then frowned when something came up in her mind. She drew herself out of it and faced the group once more. "Before I continue, do you know what the Deity of Sin is?" she asked them.

The way she phrased that was ominous, even though there was nothing ominous about her. The atmosphere was tense, like a heavy weight had settled on the room with the watchful gaze of something sinister looming over them. It wasn't a good feeling, for anyone in the room.

"Now that I think about it…" Nepgear thought as she tried to remember anything about the Deity of Sin she may have learned. However, she got nothing, nothing at all. "No, not really." She replied regretfully. If she had known more about the enemy, perhaps what happened 3 years ago would not have happened, or at least they would have been able to alter the events somehow. Knowledge was power, that was a lesson she learned the hard way back then.

IF crossed her arms and furrowed her brow in thought. "ASIC is trying to revive it, so I figure it's some sort of god that'll grant them power." It was a fair assumption. After all, why else would someone want to revive an elder deity like that? To gain some form of power up for their own means. It was the only reason, IF and the others could think of to explain why they would want to revive the Deity of sin. The classic, get revived, get strong, and conquer the world shebang.

That was why they all were shocked when the woman shook her head vehemently, like she was frustrated with the very notion about it. Nevertheless, she responded in her calm voice, though there was an angry undertone about her voice. "No, such a convenient god does not exist in this world. In fact, "Deity" is hardly an appropriate descriptor. The Deity of Sin exists solely to bring destruction and chaos… No mortal can control its power. It is even said that Gamindustri was on the brink of disaster when the Deity of Sin was first born."

"Gamindustri's destruction…"

Images assaulted their minds, images relating to burning wastelands, scorching fires and ruined landscapes. Carnage and destruction would reign supreme, and there would be monsters everywhere. The images sent chills down their spines, their imaginations telling them what would likely happen if they had indeed failed to stop ASIC and their schemes.

At that moment, RED asked, low and behold, an INTELLIGENT question, much to everyone's surprise. "So why would these ASIC people want to revive a big baddie like that?" her question got everyone in the party thinking. They soon realised that's he had a point, why would anybody want to revive something If they didn't get anything out of it?

"Yeah," Compa nodded her head in agreement, voicing out the Party's thoughts into her words. "Wouldn't they be hurt too?"

The answer came to them from Mina, whose face showed concern and a scholar-like disappointment, like a teacher disapproving of how a student would lax about instead of focus on their studies. "ASIC doesn't truly wish to revive it. It's a tool, a ploy, used to increase their organisation's clout. If they had done the proper research on the Deity of Sin, thy wouldn't spread word of it among the public.

'That possibly indicates that the leaders are just using them, only they would be aware of their real goals and the severity of which. It's like in Tokyo Ghoul, where the Leaders of CCG conceal the truth about the way things were run from the public, and crack down on anything that would threaten their rule.' Vent thought, frowning deeply as eh cupped his chin. His teeth clenched tightly as anger started to swell inside his chest like a fiery inferno. 'So many lives ruined… and for a cause that they don't even know the truth of. That is just fucking bullshit.'

 **'** **On that Master, we can agree.'** Rasen spoke, his voice hard and cold like a stone. There was palpable v anger in his tone. It wasn't that he cared about those working in ASIC, no fuck them they could go get cooked alive in a massive pan for all he cared. No, what pissed him off was the fact that people had the gall to fill the heads of the gullible with lies and deceit, only to toss them aside when they were through.

"Maybe the lower-ranks are being used then." IF theorized, scowling at the thought with Mina nodding her head in agreement.

The woman then spoke. "If so, I question their leader's sanity. This would ultimately lead to their own destruction, as well…" she then shook her head, clearing it of those thoughts for the time being as she cast her gaze over them. "I hope this story help to shed a bit of light on the situation."

Nepgear nodded, raising a hand and clenching the front of her sailor uniform nervously, yet her eyes held a grim determination to them, as if she had just found out the disturbing answer to all her questions. "A being that acts as a harbinger of destruction… Arfoire… So that's what ASIC worships." Like the rest of them, she too wondered why people would want to worship something like that, but if what IF had said was true, then the leaders should be the ones to be brought to justice.

Her musings, as well as everyone else's, were broken when RED scratched her scalp and brought up a question with a confused look on her face. "Wow, I know I'm short, but this is going way over my head. So like what should we do now?"

Finally, Vent spoke up, turning his head to look at the redhead. "We do what we have always done, RED. We kick ass, take names, and chew bubble gum." As if to signify this pledge, there was some thunder outside.

"What was that, thunder? But the forecast said it would be the usual today…" Mina muttered, but she didn't let anyone hear it. Well, she didn't realise that his enhanced senses picked it up, and Vent made no motion that suggested he heard her.

Meanwhile, RED went over and bopped him several times on the back, a large expression of joy on her face as she thanked the male of the group. "Thanks, Venny! You're forgiven of your trespassing on my wifey Goddess now." She chirped, oblivious to the roll of the eyes that the male did in response to her 'trespassing on my wifey' comment.

"Anyways, there's something I'd like to ask you, Mrs Min." the male spoke, getting the Oracle' attention. "Could you tell us anything you know about the Abnormals? We believed them to have come from ASIC or something like that, since they came just as they rose to power."

Mina nodded her head at his request. "Yes, that is something within my power. You see, Abnormal have long since been part of the Deity of Sin. You could say that these monsters were born from its being, and are fragments of its power. I do not know how connected ASIC is to the Deity of Sin, however, their leader must have done some heinous acts to be able to get them back into this world. Legends say that they fled out of Gamindustri for good when the Deity of Sin was first defeated."

"I see…" So it was getting more and more likely that Arfoire, the Deity of Sin, and ASIC were the result of the Abnormal Monsters out in the world. It didn't change much, but their origins would be an interesting piece of information to know. The image of that one abnormal he fought in the Gamindustri Graveyard when he first arrived came to mind, making him hold back the urge to snarl. That abomination… when they next met, only one of them would be left standing.

The male would have pondered deeper… had it not been for the sounds of stomping boots that caught his attention. The same could be said for the rest of the party as they looked to a back door to the Basilicom's main hallway. 2 blurs came from the door, shooting towards Mina, before they slid to a halt right before her. They even left scorch marks on the ground and trails of smoke.

While the party coughed and waved their hands to clear the smoke from their vision, in a reacted little, like she had seen this many times before, and dealt with the source.

"Mina, food!"

"Hungry…"

2 voices, one they recognised as Rom, and the other sounded younger, aggressive and impatient, spoke from Mina's side, addressing the Oracle directly like they didn't even notice that the Party was here. When the smoke faded, the pair revealed themselves as Rom and a young girl that looked just like her, only with longer hair and pink where blue would have been.

 **'** **Oh look, its Rom and Ram!'** Rasen exclaimed in Vent's mind as the male cleared the smoke from his vision. He might have unleashed his Kakugan by mistake if that smoke stayed near him any longer.

Mina narrowed her eyes at the two girls, obviously the twin CPU Candidates that had attacked the party afterwards. She then spoke in a gentle, calm and nurturing voice with a hint of sternness. "Now, now. Mind your manners, kids. We have Guests right now, so could you please wait a bit longer?"

While they pouted in disappointment about not getting what they wanted, as all kids do, the CPU Candidates for Lowee wondered who Mina was talking about and looked in their direction. When they saw who the 'Guests' were, they both freaked out, the pink one which Vent assumed was Ram being the stronger of the two when it came to their reactions. "Guests? Ahh! It's the CPU dummy! She's come back to bully us more!" Ram shrieked, pointing her finger at Nepgear.

"Oh!" Rom squirmed, hiding behind her twin sister and quivering in panic. She had her hands on her sister's shoulders for support and was only peeping out with her head from behind her.

Not having expected this reaction, Mina gasped at what they called Nepgear. ""CPU dummy"?" she repeated, before giving the two kids a stern glare. "Heavens, child, that is quite rude!"

The Twins would have responded, but Nepgear beat them to it by shakily raising a hand. "Actually, just before we came here…"

Once again, Nepgear explained to the Oracle about what had happened the previous day and awaited her response. Good thing that Mina had taken to it like she did, as it soothed the girl's nerves magnificently, Vent noticed. "Oh, now I see. They misbehaved and attacked you, did they? I am truly sorry!"

'There, now Nepgear had more than one person saying it wasn't her fault. If the Oracle says this, she just has to believe it.' Vent thought, crossing his arms under his chest and nodding to himself in satisfaction.

 **'** **Yep, that frown of hers should turn upside down, again!'**

As usual, though, Nepgear remained humble and raised her hands in a placating manner before her. "No, no. Please, there's no need to apologise…" she tried to say, but the woman shook her head in denial of that statement.

"No. As their guardian and educator, I fear I must extend my apologies on their behalf." She stated firmly, and with the tone she was using, it didn't look like she would be budging on the issue. She looked more like a concerned parent than a political figure ruling the land temporarily, something that was a sight to see.

Then again, lots of things in this world were amazing to the male, even after all the time he had spent here.

"Now then," Mina began as she looked down at the two children, who were standing beside her at this point. "What do you say, kids?"

Ram huffed derisively, turning her head away from the conversation with her eyes closed. "Lame! Why do I gotta apologize? I'm not saying anything to that CPU dummy." She said, stubbornly.

 **'** **Looks like she's resisting, the pint-sized little brat…'**

'I'm honestly curious as to what Mina will do to keep them in line…'

To add to her sister's claim, Rom nodded her head firmly, if a little shyly, from behind her 'shield' though it didn't seem that Ram minded that much. The blue wearing girl even still had tears in her eyes. "Yeah, yeah…"

"No, that is not what you're supposed to say in this situation." Mina said, though her voice sounded higher in octaves slightly during that sentence. So, she was using the 'gradually raising your voice as a form of intimidation' tactic? Vent wasn't so sure that would work, but he wouldn't say anything till he saw the end result.

Once again, Ram refused to see that she was wrong as she now was staring right into Mina's eyes, her stubbornness shining through in those blue orbs. "Hmph! They were so mean, and they were all like "We're gonna attack you for no reason now, hahaha!"" she retorted with a scoff.

"We lost… it really hurt…"

That was when things suddenly changed. A brief flash of anger rose within Mina's eyes as… something large, dark and ominous flashed around her. "What. Do. Good little girls. Say?" she asked sweetly, though there was a lack of niceness in her smile. Hell, it looked more demonic than nice, and scary to boot.

 **'** **Oh shit!'**

'Ho Jesus!'

Both Vent and Rasen nearly did multiple double takes when they saw this, and they swore that they saw the Twins look like they were facing the grim reaper herself. They were quick to change their toon and stood before the party, hands in front of their stomachs with their heads tilted downwards in bows.

"I'm so sorry! Really!"

"Sorry…"

Once their apologies were done, they looked fearfully at Mina, who nodded her head and now had her pleasant smile on her face. It was like her previous mood swing didn't happen at all.

Everyone each had their own reactions to this, as Compa was the first to respond, smiling awkwardly while trying to keep the fear out of her voice. "Did anyone else just feel a very dark, scary aura?"

Vent nodded his head so fast it was a blur, before he responded to the young Nurse. "Yes girl, yes we did." He said, shocked breathless. He had no idea how to react to this as he stared at the woman. It looked like she had more to her than just a politer smile. She had thorns. He was starting to see a pattern here, each Oracle had their own distinctive… quirk, that manifested within and outside their jobs. What, was Leanbox's Oracle going to be some drama queen with a Goddess obsession?

… he just jinxed them, didn't he?

 **'** **If I was a YouTuber and I was in a chair, I would have almost jumped out of it!'** Rasen shrieked within his mind. If Vent didn't know any better, he would call him out and tease him about being scared. But he didn't since he too felt slightly scared of this woman right now.

Meanwhile, IF was the most calm of the two as she regarded the smiling woman, who was telling the CPU Candidates when to expect food like nothing had happened, with a bead of sweat on her forehead. "I guess there's more than meets the eye with Lowee's Oracle, too."

Once Mina had told them when to expect food, she turned back to them just in time to hear Nepgear brush off the twin CPU Candidates' earlier offence. "Please don't worry about it. We actually wanted to ask them for help, too." She explained, remembering what Histoire said to them before they began their journey.

She also should have remembered Histoire saying that they wouldn't co-operate at first, for Mina shook her head fiercely before giving her response. "As their guardian, I must vehemently refuse that request." She then gestured to them with a single hand. "As you can see, they're still children. But if they wanted to assist you as fellow CPU Candidates, perhaps I might make an exception…"

"No! I don't play with dummies!"

"Uh huh…"

Before Nepgear could even get her hopes up, the twin girls ruthlessly shot down the request from the CPU Candidate for Planeptune. They didn't think about it, nor give her any time either, which more than explained what they wanted. Probably thinking about both food and their previous battle.

IF sighed at this, she hated to admit it, but she now agreed with Kei on why she said good luck with these two. She then facepalmed at the situation, dragging her hand down her face afterwards. "Seems hopeless. Whatever. We said wat we wanted and got what we could, so let's go." She told the others.

"I'm sorry we couldn't offer much, but if I may warn you… Lowee has had a recent uptick in crime. Rumours have even begun, saying that it heralds the beginning of something unprecedented. Do be careful." Mina warned them.

Everyone else was already leaving, with RED happily bounding to the door and opening it for everyone. Turning back to the Oracle, Nepgear did the same posture as the twins did before and gave a respectful bow. "We will, thank you. I hope we meet again soon."

* * *

After the Party left the Basilicom, they began walking across the streets, heading towards the Guild building. They planned on having some quests done while they planned their next move. After all, less ASIC Shares the better. "Ugh! All that talking for nothing!"

That was RED, and she clearly wasn't happy as she had been ranting like this for a while, arms behind her head and pouting angrily. She remembered what they had gotten out of their trip to the Basilicom, and it was less than ideal. Though, even she had to admit they did get one good thing from this: Information, information about the Deity of Sin, its origins, and its connection to the Abnormal Monsters. That information would help them in the long run, to understand what ASIC was thinking or at least the leaders, since it seemed that even the organisation itself was being used.

Even so, it wasn't what they came for, which meant they had to go about this the long way, and considering their previous attempts in Lastation and Planeptune…

"What should we do now…?" Compa questioned as she looked around, watching people walk the streets. Some of them were couples, but all of them wore very large, woolly outfits reminiscent of what the twin CPU Candidates wore. She then looked to IF, wondering if she had a plan for this situation, it was her idea to go to the Basilicom after all.

Noticing the look that Compa was giving her, IF raised her hands and took a step backwards. "Don't look at me." She said, before noticing something out the corner of her eyes. Her eyes twinkled as she got an idea, and pointed to what she saw. "Oh, but hang on. Look." She exclaimed.

The party looked in the direction the brunette was pointing, and to their surprise they saw Underling walking through the crowds. It looked like she was thinking hard about something, harder than anything they'd ever seen her think before.

"Whoa!" RED shouted loudly, before the group shushed her. After a meek apology, the girl quickly went on with what she wanted to say. "Didn't we just send her packing?!"

 **'** **For once, I agree with the lesbo redhead. This is unusual, even for ASIC.'** Rasen commented, before his presence receded into the shadows of his mind. Vent pondered on his words, but couldn't get a proper conclusion since the discussion took his attention back like a thief getting even with another thief for stealing his loot.

Nepgear hummed in thought, watching Underling move. "Is she trying to stir up trouble again?" she wondered. She thought it were a reasonable thing to do, since ASIC was all about low-handed tactics.

"Maybe." IF responded, but she wasn't done yet. It was time to explain her idea to the rest of them. "But remember, she's been looking for the Mascots too, right?" she questioned, getting nods from the others. They remembered how they kept encountering Underling on their journey for the Mascots.

The Planeptune CPU Candidate nodded, asking what she was getting at, prompting IF to explain. "I'm saying, if we follow her, maybe she'll lead us right to the Mascot." She said, finally revealing the idea. "She's been doing that to us, so it's only fair that we switch roles for once."

'Like it, tracking enemies to their hideout has the same principle.' Vent thought, nodding to himself in satisfaction, while Compa frowned with doubt about the plan. "Um, will that really work?"

"If it looks like it won't, we can think up a second plan as we go."


	30. Chapter 30 - Tailing Underling

**Chapter 30 - Tailing Underling**

Now that they had a plan, Nepgear and the others began to silently trail the green haired Underling of ASIC. RED had somehow gone and bought several fake detective disguises, as well as fake moustaches, nose and glasses, saying it would fit the 'theme'. Before IF could query on how she got the funds for that, Vent put them back on track for their task.

Right now, all of them were hiding behind a lamppost watching Underling interact with an elderly woman who was carrying several boxes in her hands. She was huffing quite a bit, showing extreme fatigue from the strain. "That looks heavy granny. You want a hand or something?" Underling questioned as she approached.

The woman looked down at her, before smiling kindly and shaking her head in refusal. "No, but thank you, dear. I couldn't bear a stranger with this." She replied, with some sweat falling down her forehead.

However, Underling wasn't having it. She was being nice and polite for once, much to the observing party's surprise. She began to take some of the Boxes from her, easily handling the weight in her hands. "No worries. We live the lives we do thanks to you, old fogeys. Just tell me where to put this."

"Thank you so much dear."

From their hiding places, the party watched as Underling began to help the old woman with her boxes. "Huh? She's helping that old lady." Nepgear stated, confused as she watched the exchange. Her fake moustache was twitching every time she spoke, making her feel itchy, but she refrained from blowing her disguise.

RED hummed in thought, rubbing her chin with her thumb and index finger as she gazed at Underling with calculating eyes. "Beneath that crusty shell must lie a warm and gooey Wifey Candidate."

 **'…** **No. Just no.'**

'Don't spoil her fantasies, Rasen, let reality do its job.'

Before anything else could be said or thought, IF shook her head as she brought their attention back to the task at hand. "Let's not jump to conclusions. We should keep an eye on her…"

They silently trailed Underling and the old lady, who walked to a nearby shop. Apparently, the woman was the owner, and had been ordering extra supplies for her shop that she had sold out on. However, with the lack of workers she was getting, the heavy labour was left to her.

Once they had placed the boxes behind the shop and walked back onto the streets, the woman dusted her hands down before turning to the younger female with gratitude shining in her eyes. "Thank you for your help." She thanked her, patting her arms with her hands. "These old bones just haven't been the same lately."

Hearing those words, Underling shook her head while raising a hand and waving an index finger back and forth, like a clock. "That's no good. Take better care fo your body. After all, a healthy body will help you live longer." She told the woman, who just laughed at the words she was being told. Though, not in a bad way, more like a motherly way.

"Wise words from such a young lady." The woman remarked, Underling perking up at the compliment. Felt like with everything she went through with a certain Party, compliments were something she had become addicted to. The old woman then rubbed her back as best she could, grimacing as she felt a POP before sighing in content. "Maybe I'm feeling weaker because our CPU hasn't been around…"

Now there was something in Underling's eyes that Vent recognised. A hint of a predatory gaze at having caught her prey. His eyes narrowed at this, as Rasen commented within his mind with a suspicious frown. **'Looks like someone's playing a part. An act… somehow, this isn't surprising anymore.'**

'You and me both, Rasen, you and me both.'

Meanwhile, back with the two, Underling formed a surprised expression as she spoke. "Whoa, you believe in those CPUs? That's your first mistake, granny." The ASIC operative then gestured to nearby, where a pair of kids chatting about products Underling knew were made by ASIC, walked by. "Everyone's following Arfoire now. I mean, the kids are, anyway."

The old woman tilted her head in confusion, before smiling sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head. "My, is that so?" she questioned, before laughing. "Forgive me. This old grandma struggles to keep with the times." She explained, thinking that Arfoire was some kind of new CPU, unaware of the true identity of the Deity of Sin.

"You should give it a try. I mean, why not? You'd be shocked at how much better you'll feel." The ASIC Operative then blinked as she realised something, before reaching into her grey suit. "Oh, yeah, I got just the thing." She then pulled out from her suit, an action figure. She then handed it to the woman, who took it curiously. "Here's a limited edition Arfoire figurine—endorsed by ASIC! Slap this puppy in your house and you'll be the luckiest granny in Lowee!"

Examining the figurine, the woman felt an odd sense of discomfort looking at it, and looked up to the beaming Underling. "Well… that statue looks more than a little frightening…" she remarked unsurely. She then handed it back to the girl, since she hadn't bought it officially.

Despite the reaction the elderly woman had, Underling didn't seem perturbed in the slightest, in fact she seemed even better than before. "I know, right? That's it's charm! It'll scare away any bad luck that tries to come your way." She explained, holding the figure out towards the old woman.

Said woman looked at once again, and kept her frown as something else came to mind, something not to do with its frightening aura. "I don't quite understand, but it looks like it would be quite expensive."

At this, Underling gave a nod as she began pulling out a calculator. "Yeah, it costs an arm and a leg, but I think we were meant to meet. So granny, lemme cut you a deal…"

"Ooookay, that's quite enough!"

The sound of a voice, one the old woman found she didn't know while Underling tensed at the sound of it, as well as the multiple different footsteps that followed. "Huh? Get lost. Can't you see I'm trying to…" Twirling around and swiftly pocketing the calculator, Underling saw the entire group of broads that she had encountered many times before, their disguises no longer on their person. "Oh, for crying out loud… You again!?"

IF scowled as she summoned a Qatar and pointed it towards the green haired girl, the old woman shrieking slightly in a startled manner at the sight. "Don't go scamming the elderly! That's lower than low."

Vent growled as he switched Vier from Ring mode to Sword mode, gripping the handle and revving the blade up to maximum as he held it before him. "Your scumbag, you're just asking to have Vier shoved right up your ass, aren't you?"

RED giggled from behind them, and when Nepgear asked her what was so funny, the redhead wifey seeker went and whispered something into her ear. Whatever it was, it caused Nepgear's face to become redder than a tomato, much to an on looking Compa's confusion.

"Sh-Shut up!" Underling yelled, quickly brandishing her Pipe. She was told by her boss to not use her Ghoul Powers for the time being, saying that the integration process was still ongoing and that her Ghoul Cells needed more time to settle in. Plus, nobody knew much about the Ghoul race right now, so it was decided to keep it that way for the time being by the ASIC higher ups. "Gathering funds for ASIC's operations is a really important job, y'know!?"

While the three argued about how Underling's job fit her designation of 'underling', Nepgear went over to the old woman who was watching the three in confusion, not knowing what was going on. She then looked and saw Nepgear standing before her, giving a polite bow. "Ma'am, please don't buy that scary figurine. I hope you can keep your faith in the CPUs."

Comprehension lit up inside the woman's eyes, as well as horror. "Oh, heavens to Betsy… Was that young lady trying to do something bad?" she asked, fear evident in her voice as she covered her mouth with her mitten covered hand.

Glancing out from the corner of her eyes, Underling saw that the situation was derailing too fast for her to do anything to stop it. She released a groan of frustration and stomped her boot on the ground. "Damnit! I was about to close that sale! Ugh, just you wait…!" she yelled, before turning on her heels and running off.

RED pointed in her direction and yelled. "She's running away again!"

 **'** **Why thank you, captain obvious!'** Rasen yelled within his mind, making the male groan as he held the side of his head, Vier reverting to Ring Mode. Meanwhile, he looked to IF like the rest of them did, silently asking her if it was alright to let her go like this.

Said Brunette seemed to understand their mental queries as a reassuring smile formed on her lips. She began pulling out her disguise from her Inventory while speaking. "Its fine. Let her go. We'll wait a while before we resume tailing her." She told them. After a few moments of waiting, the rest of the Party put their disguises on and left to go pursue Underling.

Once she was nowhere in sight, the party turned to the old woman, who had just finished off her talk with Nepgear. She then turned to the rest of them and bowed her head. "Thank you, young ones, for stopping me before I made a grievous mistake." She told them.

"It was nothing, Ma-am, don't sweat it." IF replied humbly, waving her gratitude off with a hand gesture. The same hand went to her hip as her lips curved upwards at the corners. "Just try to keep an eye out for suspicious people from now on. You never know what kinds of trickery those guys will pull."

RED bounded forwards, a hand raised to the heavens with a large grin on her face after the Guild Agent said her piece, quickly adding in her own. "Could ya maybe spare a discount for us if we-" she tried to say, but IF shushed her with a bonk on the head, getting a startled yelp as she crouched low. She held the baseball sized lump forming on her head while quivering with her eyes clenched shut. IF sighed at the redhead's childishness, her fist steaming from the blow. At least the old woman was laughing at this instead of being awkward.

Compa, who conveniently ignored this, bobbed her head up and down in a vehement manner, agreeing wholeheartedly with the brunette as she thought back to the last instance they had with the green haired ASIC operative. Her face scrunched up in anger at the memory. "Mrs Underling's a real meanie, she even took a child hostage just to get away. She deserved that pounding Ven-Ven gave her." She huffed,

The old woman's eyes blinked for a moment as the name she said caught her attention. While she frowned at the thought of taking children hostage, making her decisions not to buy even better in her mind, the second name piqued her interest. "Ven-Ven? Is that a guy's nickname?" she asked curiously, getting a nod from the young Nurse whose mood quickly ascended with the mention of their friend. "I see…"

"She means me, Ma'am." Vent spoke, breaking into the conversation and stepping forth. He had been busy keeping track of Underling's scent when he heard his name, or rather one of his nicknames, be mentioned. Rasen was now keeping track of Underling's scent while he would focus on this new situation. "My name's Vent, and I'm with them." He introduced formally, bowing to her as he gestured to the girls.

The old woman's gaze looked him up and down, making him feel mildly uncomfortable as she scrutinized him. "Hmmm… interesting, you don't look like a typical male youngster I see these days. Most want to be chasing girls, but you project the aura of a soldier." She remarked, the male widening his eyes at how perceptive the woman was. On the side, he wondered where this perception was when Underling was trying to goad her, but didn't voice that.

"Well, maybe that might change for the future, after all, one guy and several cute girls can be…"

Her next words snapped Vent out of his stupor as his face turned to that of a tomato, spluttering incoherently as he tried to deny what she was saying. "Wh-wha?! N-No, no-o-no, not happening! Seriously not happening here!" he stammered trying to regain his composure while flailing his arms about, and failing miserably.

"I don't know…" IF began, looking at him while trying to disguise the amusement threatening to burst from her chest. "You do seem to get cosy with some of us recently, who knows…" she mused, looking away to hide the grin on her face. The others soon took their own turns in teasing the lone male member of their party, heck even Nepgear had a slight giggle in good humour at the blushing face that Vent had.

"Hehehehe, Ven-Ven's blushing like a schoolgirl."

"Wow, look at him go! I'd say Venny is about to shoot into the air like a rocket!"

"Vent really is kinda adorable when he blushes…"

One by one, from a beaming Compa, to a grinning RED and a sheepishly smiling Nepgear, Vent's face looked like it would go nuclear, with steam shooting out his ears, even making the high whistling sound alike to that of a steam train. Eventually, Vent just couldn't take it anymore and went with the first thing his mind could think of, to get himself out of this situation. "Hey! I'm not cute, alright?! I'm cool and badass, that's my shtick! Besides, if anything, you girls are the cute ones, not me!"

… only to feel the urge to plant his face into a wall to hide the shame and embarrassment he showed on his features when he realised just WHAT it was he said. The first part was alright, it was safe, but the last part was the exact opposite. Heck, the light blushes on their faces only made it worse in his mind. "A-A-A-A-Anyways! U-U-U-Underli-ing is probably o-o-out of tracking range by now! W-we should go and pa-no, catch her! Alright?! Alrightie, l-let's g-g-g-goooo!"

Finally, the male spun on his heels and dashed off, towards the direction where Underling had run off to. The girls shared a collective giggle, amused at the teasing that they had done for the male. Nepgear though, still felt the need to ask them something about the situation. "DO you think we went too far, there?"

RED shook her head, still grinning like a minx. "Nope! Its fine getting a rise outta him! No need to sweat, my wifey Candidate." She said, giving Nepgear a thumbs-up. While she would have tried hugging her, IF had conveniently placed herself between them so she couldn't do anything.

Compa hummed, still pink at what he had said about them. "Well, Ven-Ven does try to act like he's cool and badass, and most of the time it's true, but he should learn to relax and have a little fun."

While she still chuckled slightly at the reactions Vent had, and she would admit they were amusing since Vent usually did the teasing himself, IF knew that he was right, that they should get back on track. She then started walking in his direction, waving an arm in that direction while glancing behind her at the others. "Poking fun at Vent is alright and all, but we should head out. Underling should think she's lost us by now. Let's go ladies."

"Right!"

* * *

"Yo kidlets. I keep you waiting?"

Carrying a medium sized satchel on her shoulder, Underling stopped before a group of kids with their game consoles in hand. One of them was a thin kid, another was overweight and the third seemed like a middle-ground between them. They were each waiting, with varying expressions of impatience, for her to arrive with some new goods from ASIC.

One of them gave a loud groan, looking towards her. "Finally, jeez." The child spoke rudely, crossing his arms under his chest.

Another huffed, looking away from the green haired Hybrid as he spoke with a scoff, an equally impatient tone in his voice. "Yeah, you're really late. I was gonna go home in a sec." he said, agreeing with his friend as the two kids gave each other fist bumps.

Underling shook her head at their attitudes, mentally restraining herself from launching her Kagune and piercing the little brats. With a smile that was a mix of a businesswoman and caring parent, practiced through perseverance, Underling made to put down the bag on her shoulder. It dropped to the ground with an audible smacking sound as she spoke while rummaging through the bag. "Aw, hey, let's not throw a tantrum or anything. I brought the goods. C'mon, take a good look."

That seemed to change their minds, their eyes widening with excitement and glee at the thought of new goods as they crowded around the greenhead. Meanwhile, their scents whiffed into Underling's nostrils, making her gulp slightly as she fought the urge to just cannibalise the brats here and now. 'Wow, this urge is crazy! Boss Tatara said the hunger would come eventually, but I didn't think it'd be this soon!' she thought with shock. Underling hadn't tasted flesh yet, but her boss did tell her it was th only thing aside from Coffee that she could eat from now on, having accepted the power of the Ghoul for herself.

As for the kids, their expressions fell once they saw what was inside the bag: a bunch of black chips with a red emblem on them. One of them, took a chip and examined it, his expression set into disbelief before he tossed it back into the bag before pointing to it. "That's a boring old Arfoire chip." He stated.

Another one just huffed, stomping his foot on the ground in irritation. "We already have that!" he exclaimed irritably, fury racing through him as thoughts of being cheated filled his mind. When he finished stomping, he gave Underling a glare that surprised her briefly, the intensity was something she didn't expect from a kid like him. "I thought you said that you had some really good stuff!"

Previously, Underling had sent a message out that ASIC had someone goods to see across the black market. However, these were all she had gotten for the moment, parents don't usually watch what their kids do these days which made converting them to ASIC's side easier. These kids were the few she got, mostly since most of the kids here have already pledged faith in ASIC through bribery and content.

Nevertheless, they had to keep the goods coming, or brats like these will lose faith in ASIC, which was why she was doing this job despite not being the type of person for this work, given her attitude. "Shut your trap, brat." Underling stated, slightly reverting to her true personality., The kids jumped slightly in a startled manner, but quickly Underling returned to her previous state. "Look a little closer, wouldja?"

Underling silently requested one of their handheld consoles. The kid that hadn't spoken yet shyly handed his over, preferring that to the conversation unlike the other two. Underling grinned and played with his hair, making the twerp blush in embarrassment. Taking one of the chips in her bag, Underling placed it inside the handheld. "Do this and… POW!"

After inserting the Chip, Underling handed the console back, allowing the two kids to crowd around the shy kid, to his displeasure, and look at the Screen. "Whoa! What's this screen?" One shrieked.

Another shrieked just as excitedly as his friend did. "Dude awesome! You can modify your save data?"

Their eyes widened with shock and awe at what they saw on it, before looking to the ASIC Operative. Underling just grinned and stood tall, arms crossed and a superior smirk on her face as she nodded triumphantly. "That's not all. You can mess around with the event flags and stuff, too." She then uncrossed her arms and spread them in a V shape through the air, an excited gleam shining in her eyes. "It's like a universal God Mode!"

Now the children lost their previous grievances with the Operative for the ones that sold them goods. All of them, even the shy kid, crowded around Underling, asking her where they could get this stuff. "That's so cool! How do I get one of these?!"

Breaking away from the children, Underling had done this so that she could control her hunger better, before explaining with a slightly sterner, serious tone as she waved an index finger at them. "Well, there's the rub. You gotta get your chip modified by taking it to ASIC Headquarters."

"No sweat! I'm going!"

"Yeah, yeah! I wanna get mine modified, too!"

"Where's ASIC?!"

Seeing the pleading expressions on their faces, Underling mentally laughed at a job well done. ASIC just got a few more supporters, she thought while taking out a notebook and pen from her suit. "Heh. As a special treat, I'll take you there myself. But I need your folks' names, addresses, and…"

Just before the kids could answer, and unknowingly make the greatest mistake of their lives, a familiar red haired wifey seeker suddenly landed between them, thrusting a hand before the ASIC Operative. "Hey, now!" she yelled, sending both parties into first of sharp shocked gasps as both stumbled backwards, though Underling fell on her backside. "Planning another kidnapping?!"

At seeing the redhead, Underling gave a loud cry of frustration, lifting her arms into the air, this time out of frustration and anger at the unfairness of it all. "Oh, come ON!" she shrieked while the rest walked out of their hiding place.

 **'** **I could say that this girl's 'GOT CHIPS' huh? Huh? That was good, right?'** Rasen commented in Vent's mind. The male didn't grace his tenant with a response, electing a displeased huff from him. If he had a body, Rasen would be pouting with crossed arms right about now. **'Humph, tough crowd…'**

Compa spoke first, frowning at what she had seen as she gave a disappointed shake of her head. "I'm very sad to see you trying to corrupt Gamindustri's youth…" she remarked, trailing off as she eyed the children with the Arfoire chips.

Getting back to her feet, Underling scoffed as she pocketed her hands after she managed to secure the bag of Chips. "Shut it! We gotta train 'em young and make 'em into socially awkward dorks!" she yelled, temporarily forgetting that the children were still within earshot. This wasn't for long though as Underling blinked, before giving them an awkward smile. "Er, one sec kiddies!"

With that, Underling slowly took a step back, fastening the straps for her bag…. Before dashing off faster than she did before. Vent tried to move after her, but he was too late as she was already long gone. 'Damnit, she's gotten away… wait, what's this smell…?' the male's eyes widened when a scent whiffed into his nostrils, one that caught him by surprise as he took a few sniffs to identify it. When he got an identity however, his face nearly lost all colour and he would have been registered as KIA. 'Oh shit… I know we've encountered Ghouls and other Abnormals many times, but goddamnit if this belongs to who I think it is, we'll be in deep shit if he finds us!' he shrieked within his mind.

"She totally ran away."

"Aw man… I really thought we were gonna get super awesome modified chips."

The three kids huffed and scoffed as they shared with each other their disappointment.

This pissed the brunette off, more so since they didn't care about what was going on. In her mind, the fact that they were kids didn't matter to her, as she whirled on them and pointed to them with a furious scowl on her features. "You kids aren't innocent, either. Stop fooling around with those dangerous Arfoire chips!" she yelled'.

Nepgear then walked up to them, a kind smile on her face as she tried to get the kids to see the errors of their ways. "Don't you think games are way more fun and rewarding when you don't cheat at them?" she questioned.

However, both of their efforts were in vain, passing through one ear and out of the other regarding the kids. One of them huffed and waved them off in a shooing motion. "Yeeeeeeeah, whatever."

The shy one began to make his way out of the area with the second one following him. His face suggested that he too was displeased, more so than his shyness before. "This got boring fast. I'm going home." And with that, the three brats left, leaving the party alone in the street.

Compa watched them go sadly, clenching a fist under her chest. "Those children have no idea what they're doing to Gamindustri…" she whispered sadly, with a hint of dejection as well as fatigue. This wasn't the first time she had seen Gamindustri's youth this way, in fact it was a fairly common sight these days. Even so, the sight didn't sit well with her.

IF growled to herself, looking like she wanted to pound some sense into their skulls. There were some times in the past where she had indeed lost it on some of ASIC's worshippers, with how they talked about ASIC and belittled the CPUs out in the open. In the end though, she refrained from going after them and gave a loud groan instead, turning to the rest of them. "Take it as first-hand proof that morals have fallen to an all-time low. We gotta do something, quick."

"You bet your ass we do." Vent agreed, nodding his head with his arms crossed behind his head, trying to act as nonchalant as possible. He wanted to track the scent quickly, but had to leave calmly. "Just so you know ladies, I gotta go do something, its urgent too. Sorry, so could you keep an eye on Underling while I head away?" he asked them.

While IF and the others wondered what Vent would want to investigate, the way he said it and the urgency in his eyes told them that he wouldn't answer their questions like they wanted him too. "Sure, but don't get lost, alright? It'd be a pain in the ass to find you in this place, we wouldn't have time either." IF instructed seriously, getting an understanding nod from the male. With their permission given, Vent turned away and began dashing off.

Once he was nowhere in sight, RED turned to the others and asked in a dumb manner. "So uh, what was that all about? Why did Venny wanna leave us?" it didn't make sense to her, sure they teased him a little back with the old lady, but it didn't warrant the male wanting to avoid them. It just didn't make sense, plus she got this weird feeling, like something was going wrong, terribly wrong and he was part of it.

Nepgear solemnly shook her head, she had no idea why Vent would want to leave. While RED was only slightly concerned for their male comrade, she was way more concerned for his safety. He'd done a lot for her, so it was only natural that they got close. "I don't know. He did look like it was urgent though…" she muttered the last part under her breath.

"Whatever the case is, we can't wait around for him to return. Lets' go, we have to track Underling." IF urged them. While she was just as concerned as the rest of them, the brunette knew that whatever trouble Vent found himself in, he could manage fine on his own. With that, they resumed their mission.

* * *

Going through Lowee's streets made her lungs burn like they were on fire, and her legs screamed for some rest. Eventually, Underling couldn't fight it anymore, and hid inside a dark alleyway, letting the shadows provided by the large buildings shield her from the intense heat from the sun. She leaned against a wall, panting slightly as she slid down it, ending up on her backside.

She then let out a curse as she thought back on her last 2 attempts at getting more followers for ASIC, a feeling of bile rising in her chest. "Damnit! They won't leave me alone!" she raged, slamming a fist into the ground that, thanks to her Ghoul side enhancing her strength, made a small crater. After a short silence, a deep sigh escaped her lips. "I'll never get my job done…"

Another short silenced passed as Underling contemplated things in her mind, like her current mission, before snorting in disgust. "Ugh, I can't keep doing petty crap like this forever." She whispered. Advertising, selling and pretending to be nice to brats and elderly folk was not something she liked nor specialised in. The children before were fine examples of this. "I gotta find my golden ticket outta grunt work…"

By golden ticket, she referred to Lowee's Mascot. So far, her contacts hadn't located it yet, which was a damn annoyance at the best of times. Usually she had to go hunting for it herself, and hope she got lucky, but no dice. Her irritation was enough for her Kakugan to begin activating, her left eye slowly turning blue with her sclera darkening.

"Meow." The sound of a feline calling out to her snapped Underling out of her thoughts, her Kakugan deactivating thanks to surprise replacing her stress. Looking to the side, Underling saw a young looking cat sitting on its behind, looking up at her with its tail swaying from side to side. "Huh? Beat it, cat. Can't you see I'm pissed off?" she remarked angrily though not as much as before. Even Underling liked cats, despite her demeanour.

However, the cat didn't do as she said, as it instead tilted its head in her direction, as if confused, before getting up and going towards her. Underling made to summon her pipe to whack it away, when she saw how it nuzzled her hand gently, in a manner she was surprised to find was affection.

"I just said to get away…" the ASIC Operative muttered in annoyance, holding her other hand over her face. Although the hand on the cat's head remained where it was. She then looked down at it through the gaps her fingers made. "What, you hungry or something?"

The cat let out another sound. "Meow." As if a form of response, nodding its head slightly, making Underling sigh. She should have just gone and left it, but the stress from the last few hours made her too tired to move right now.

'Wait a minute... Didn't I get some rations from boss Tatara while I was meant to go out here?' the girl wondered, blinking as she recalled her brief time with him after the defeat she suffered at the Lowee Global Expo. He'd explained to her that the Disk she had carried was a special Disk called a 'Ghoul Disk'. Its purpose was to convert the one activating it into a Ghoul, replacing their organs with that of the said Species. It was intended to be used as a means of converting humans into Ghouls, so they had a stronger task force for the future.

However, what they didn't expect was for her to become a Hybrid of Human and Ghoul.

Research was currently being conducted as to why this happened, but for now Tatara had told her that her Ghoul side was still getting accustomed to her body, so she should hold out on using her Ghoul powers till a later date. He had estimated that this wouldn't be for long though, as that battle she had at the Expo had forced her body to adapt to the new power quicker, shortening the waiting time than initially expected. Underling didn't know what to think at first, since she expected this power to be completely hers from the get go, something she got scolded for when she blurted it out unintentionally.

Though, there was one other downside to her situation. He had said to her that, thanks to her conversion, that her stomach and other digestive organs had been fried, replaced with Ghoul organs. That meant, she couldn't eat human foods anymore, so she had to resort to feeding off monsters. Apparently though, some of her superiors didn't know about this change as she was given a lettuce sandwich for her lunch before departing.

She had almost barfed when she got the smell into her nostrils. She'd heard that food tastes horrible to Ghouls if it weren't human or monster flesh. She'd also heard that they can feed off their own kind, but for some reason Ghouls would glare at her for inquiring. Apparently, it had been truer than she could ever believe, for when she took a bite out of it at lunch, she had to vomit the piece into a bin, disgust shining in her eyes and plastered over her face. It had tastes like sand mixed with expired rotten eggs to her. It had slipped her mind to throw the rest away though.

Still though, perhaps she had found a use for it after all...

"Ugh. I think I have some bread left over from lunch…" she muttered, before finding what she was looking for. "Yeah, here it is." She exclaimed, pulling out what remained of a piece of the lettuce sandwich.

Upon seeing the sandwich in her other hand, the cat let a happy call as it hopped onto her lap and settled there. But before it could bite into the sandwich, Underling pulled it back, waving a finger in its face. "Hold your horses, cat. This bread isn't free. If you really want it, you gotta put your faith into Arfoire, okay?"

The cat tilted its head; not getting what she said but the sandwich looked too delicious to pass up. Thus, it gave a happy "Meoooooow!" of acceptance. This got rid of Underling's anger significantly, her eyes perking up. "Nice. A deal's a deal. Eat up."

"Meow! #Nom, nom. Nom#" the cat mewled happily as it grabbed the piece in its tiny paws and began to feed, chowing on its meal. The sight was enough to fill Underling with joy as she pumped a fist, grinning. "Yessss. A new recruit. Finally, at last…" she muttered, before sweat dropping when she realised just how much use an animal would be. "As if a cat could actually do anything for us…"

At that moment, the cat gave a mewl again. "Meow!" However, it still had some food in its mouth, which it began to choke on. Underling was quick to act, patting it on the back to help it out. "You stupid or something? Eat it slow and chew it up, otherwise you'll choke." She scolded, but no longer was she angry. Instead, a warm smile was on her features.

From behind a lamp post where they could watch the Operative, Compa in her disguise barely suppressed her squeal at the sight of the kitten, otherwise they would have been discovered. "Awww, Miss Kitten is so cute!" she gushed.

Nepgear however, wasn't so focused on that, her features resembling someone who was at war with herself. "I'm a bit torn about this… ASIC just got a new follower, but…" she trailed off, watching the display. Like Underling said, a cat wouldn't do much help for the criminal organisation. Plus, she didn't feel good about tearing Underling away from a harmless, innocent animal like that. It felt almost cruel, to her.

Apparently, IF had concluded that as well as she made hand motions with a single hand. "Uh… I think we can let this one slide." She told the others when they looked at her in confusion with her hand signs, making her sigh.


	31. Chapter 31 - Choices

**Chapter 31 - Choices**

Vent barrelled down the streets, his form a blur while he raced towards his goal. It was a good thing that the streets were bare at this time, as he didn't want to bulldoze through needlessly large crowds. Although, he had this dreadful feeling that they were deserted for a reason… a very dark, grizzly reason.

'No, Vent! Don't think on those!' he shouted within his mind, shaking his head to clear it, before grunting and pushing onwards. 'Just think of the destination, nothing else matters. You have to get there in time.' With that in his mind, Vent pumped his legs full of RC Cells, making his form go faster. The scent he had caught before was getting stronger, meaning he was nearing the source. The smell of blood saturated his nostrils, making him scowl in anger as he quickly pulled something out of his pocket... the ball that was actually his Mask.

Haven't used this baby since chapter 5… wow, it's been a long time.

 **'** **Ahhhh, I love our meta jokes, makes me feel like we're stealing the spotlight from this series' protagonist.'** Rasen quipped inside his mind, but Vent ignored him as he jumped into the air, flipping forwards at the jump's apex while going upside down, and as he fell the teen righted himself before landing on the ledge of a building.

* * *

Kneeling on one leg, the teen noticed that he had landed on a building that oversaw what looked to be a medical clinic. The clinic looked like a large mushroom, like the rest of the buildings in Lowee, but with a smaller Mushroom attached to the side. It had a large open yard, likely so heavy vehicles like trucks could get in and park safely. There was a wooden fence around the yard to keep out intruders, about 8 feet tall with a metal gate. It reminded him of a certain scene in his favourite manga, Tokyo Ghoul.

He flipped into the air, landing at the back of the yard just after the fence. He landed in a crouch, a low rumble echoing from his location as the ground broke beneath him. Slowly, he rose to a standing upright position, his Mask on his face as he gazed through the Mask's crimson eye lenses.

A second later, a portion of the smaller mushroom building exploded, and a loud scream was heard as a man in a doctor coat, dress shirt and pants was sent flying out. The man had dark hair in a Japanese ponytail, with closed eyes. Blood splattered from his form, indicating that he was injured.

He crashed into the ground, sliding to a halt and groaned in agony, quivering on his spot. His eyes widened as he saw this, and quickly Vent rushed to his side. "Hey! Hey, you alright, mister?" he asked the man, kneeling beside him and checking his condition. Behind his Mask, his Kakugan eye had activated, his RC Cells rising to the call of their master.

 **'** **Shit dude, Master this guy looks like he got wrecked.'** Rasen commented, whistling at some of the wounds the man seemed to have sustained on his person. They looked serious, and if not treated soon, they would make him go into critical condition. Vent nodded wordlessly to this, and swiftly released a Tentacle from his Rinkaku, planting its tip inside his heart before beginning RC Cell transfusion. He had managed to train it so that it didn't hurt the person as much, just a mild discomfort is all that happens during the healing process now.

The wounds already began to heal, and the man groaned in the process. Weakly, he opened his eyes, showing them to be dark brown as they gazed into the eye pieces of his Mask. His eyes widened at the sight, and they then saw the Tentacle impaled in his heart. "Who are… what…?" the man tried to say, but the discomfort soon took hold of his thoughts from the pain, which had decreased heavily.

"Oh? I thought I smelled another rat around here…"

Vent tensed as he quickly shot to his feet, spinning around to see who it was that spoke. His eyes laid sight upon the one-man Vent wouldn't let anywhere near the girls no matter what, more so than TORSO and OWL. They may be insane in their own way, but this guy was WAY beyond them in his opinion.

There, standing by the hole that the man had made earlier, likely being the one who threw him out in the first place, was a tall, giant of a man, wearing a white suit with a black undershirt and green overcoat. He wore polished black shoes, and on his right hand there was that strange accessory on his fingers, which looked reminiscent of a stinger. The man had blonde hair, and pointed beady black eyes, with a shit-eating grin on his features. But what Vent was most aware of, was the fact that he had some pliers in his hand, his signature torture tool.

"… JASON…. Yamori…" Vent growled through his teeth, his Tentacle having finished healing the doctor so it receded into his back. Through a small gap in the man's imposing frame, Vent noticed that there were 2 civilians inside, and by the CPUs they looked like they'd seen better days. There was no hope for them either, they had already lost too much blood and their eyes showed no signs of life, a perfect indicator of what had happened.

Hearing his name mentioned, the man known as Yamori, or by his codename JASON, hummed in thought, scratching his jaw with one hand while the other was raised to his chest level, pressing on its index finger to make a cracking sound echo through the vicinity. "Oh? How interesting, this world has no idea about our kind, and yet someone like you knows about us? That must mean that you are that so called Hybrid Tatara was talking about. Hmmmm…"

'So, Tatara's informed his subordinates about me…' Vent thought, scowling behind his Mask as he prepared to strike. It wasn't that surprising considering OWL knew of him, he didn't really think about it at the time. In addition, while he couldn't have saved those two inside, he would make sure the doctor was saved at least. "I'm not giving you the satisfaction of an answer, JASON." He said bluntly, raising his hand and cracking his finger as well.

"Is that so…?" the man questioned, although underneath it was a sense of predatory glee. The man idly played with his pliers, his expression turning thoughtful as he hummed. "That's unfortunate… for my superiors anyways." He remarked, before he aimed a bloodthirsty smile at Vent, one with pure sadism in his eyes that sent chills down Vent's spine. "But since you came all this way for me..."

Instincts were the sole reason why Vent was able to dodge the upcoming blow, sprouting a Tentacle to take the doctor along with him as he narrowly avoided a kick that would have decapitated him. Vent swiftly jumped back several times, the Tentacle wrapped around the unconscious doctor's waist as it lowered him onto the ground away from the battle. The male then recalled his Tentacle, growling behind his Mask while cracking his fingers.

 **'** **Be careful, Master!'** Rasen called out from within. **'The more you use your Kagune, the more you-'**

'I know!' Vent called back, getting into a combat stance. 'I just have to- OH SHIT!' the teen quickly ducked to avoid a swipe from the man's pliers, raising his leg and pivoting on the other to avoid a following kick. He managed to swing his body around till he was behind JASON, stomp his foot onto the ground to re-establish balance, and back flip backwards, kicking the man in the back.

JASON grunted, stepping forwards by a step. "Hoh? Your strength isn't too shabby…" he muttered in thought, swiftly turning around only to see Vent flying at him with a roundhouse kick to his face. He raised his hand and caught the leg in it, feeling the force behind it and smirking with an impressed expression. "Not bad… not bad at all. Power is everything, those who have power are free to do as they please."

"Is that so, huh?" Vent remarked, before he grinned behind his Mask. Despite JASON utterly freaking him out when he read him in the Manga, the teen couldn't help but feel primal excitement course through his veins. It was something he only felt when fighting other Ghouls, for they were the only true opponents he had ever faced since coming to this world.

A sense of motion brought him out of his thoughts as JASON made to smash him into the ground by raising him to the air. However, Vent had a trick up his sleeve he had been saving for a while now. When JASON had raised him to the apex point, the teen cackled as bloodlust took over. "Hah, you think you've got me, well take this! FANG BULLET!" he called out, sending Negatron into his free leg. He then thrusted the leg downwards towards JASON's head like doing a straight kick, launching a large black bullet with a red outline and made from Negatron at point blank range.

It hit JASON in the face, causing him to stumble back and drop him. The male sweep kicked him off his feet while he was distracted by the Skill he just did, before flipping into the air again. "Now have a taste of my FANG BARRAGE!" With that, Vent unleashed a vicious onslaught of energy waves from his legs, kicking them in JASON's direction. Loud explosions echoed across the yard each time the waves hit him, and Vent heard loud grunts each time they hit.

A few seconds later, Vent stopped his attack and landed on the ground, eyeing the black smoke warily. His mismatched eyes narrowed behind his Mask while his hands went into his pockets, one of them fingering Vier in ring form. 'By the way Rasen, think Vier could cut through Ghoul flesh? It's no Quinque, but…'

 **'** **It should if you empower it with Negatron. After all, it may not be a Quinque, but- OH SHIT LOOK OUT!'**

Rasen's call came just in time, as Vent gasped when he felt the ground beneath him begin to crack and tremble. He quickly flipped backwards, avoiding a large Tentacle that tried to spear him from below. It looked to be a monster in appearance, made out of sharpened thorns with blade-like edges. 'That's JASON's-'

"Hoh, you're no slouch, if your power and reflexes are this good."

A low, husky voice sent chills down his spine, its speaker being behind him and so close to his ear that he could feel the speaker's breath on his neck. Out of reflex, Vent released 2 Tentacles, whipping towards the offender of his personal space who jumped away just before he could get skewered. Vent quickly pivoted around a second torn-made Tentacle that tried to do the same surfacing trick from behind, only to fail.

Both Tentacle rose out the ground, revealing them to be connected to the back of JASON, who stood behind him with his hands in his pockets just like Vent's were, his eyes having turned into his Kakugans. "This has proven to be quite… fun. It's been a while since I've felt this…" JASON shuddered, holding himself as if he were about to orgasm as he gave him a sick, demented grin, his eyes bulging with insanity. "… Excited about anything…"

The two men heard the sounds of footsteps echoing in the distance along with the clinking of armour. JASON sighed, disappointment etched into his voice as he retracted his Rinkaku Kagune. "But, I guess for now, we will have to pause here. Lowee's military is crap but a hindrance." JASON then turned his back, making his way towards a section of the fence. Vent glared at him, and made to run after him when he heard a groan from the unconscious doctor, snapping him out of it. JASON smirked mockingly at him regardless, though. "Let's play again, sometime."

With that, the man jumped onto a building's roof and used hat to jump away from the scene. Vent watched him go for like one second, before turning to the unconscious doctor. 'We have little time, so I must get him away from here. Can't have him spilling about my Ghoul side after what he's seen…' he thought, picking the man in the princess carry before jumping off as well.

By the time the military arrived, all they would find was a battlefield for a clinic and two bodies impaled and bashed many times over. A woman, and 2 children.

* * *

 **'** **Alright, this should be far enough that the military wouldn't think to look for us this far.'** Rasen told the male, to which Vent nodded in agreement as he landed on the streets below. Jumping from building to building may have looked funny, but thanks to the streets being mostly barren, everything was okay. Oh, who was he kidding?

Everything was far from okay. Not only JASON was back, but he had already started taking his victims. It was also ironic, in the manga the family of the doctor he killed managed to escape JASON until humans got them, but this time it's the opposite. The family died and the doctor got to live. It was a tragedy, much like the manga.

'… Shit, why couldn't I have gotten there sooner?' Vent cursed himself, gritting his teeth behind his Mask as he went into a darkened alleyway. It was silent and he couldn't smell any people nearby, so being ambushed by gangsters wasn't an issue. However, his mind was preoccupied with other things to care about that right now. 'I could have saved that family and the doctor… I could have stopped JASON…. I could have…'

 **'** **Like Rize Kaneshiro once said to Kaneki, master.'** Rasen began, and this time he wasn't his crazed, humorous self. He was his stern, serious lecturer self, knowing that the situation would weigh heavily on the former vigilante's mind. **'It was all a coincidence. It wasn't to do with luck or fate, but the choices made. If you hadn't caught that scent, 3 innocent lives would have been lost to that monster. But you did, and thus one was spared from that fate. Take solace in the fact that you managed to save someone, that you were strong enough to make that choice.'**

Vent gaped behind his mask as he lowered the unconscious doctor to the ground, before flopping onto his backside and leaned against the wall. 'Rasen…' he whispered in his mind, pondering his words. He was right, he did have a choice, but unlike Kaneki's torture, it wasn't about who to save, it was whether to investigate or not. He just chose the one that resulted in one life being saved. It was sad, but that was the cold, harsh reality.

JASON's words to Kaneki during his torture rung in his mind: all weakness in the world was due to lack of ability.

That was why there were those that got hurt by others for their own gain, those that had nothing and thus WERE nothing. They wouldn't be able to do anything to those corrupt enough to enslave them under foot. That was why having power was so important, otherwise people will constantly trample over you, like an ant's relationship with a boot. Ghoul ideology, people, yet it held weight back in his world too. People with power tend to take advantage of those without it.

He was one of the lucky few who could fight back.

The former Vigilante took his Mask off and converted it to ball form, pocketing it inside his jacket. He then looked down at the unconscious doctor as he began to stir, his Kakugan deactivating. A second later, the man's eyes opened once more, blinking several times to clear his vision. "Where… where am I…?" he barely whispered, his voice horse.

"It's alright; I managed to save you from that killer." Vent said softly, placing a hand on his chest as the doctor tried to move. "Easy, your body has just been healed; it needs time to properly recover. You are lucky, you know, JASON would have left no survivors back there. You're lucky, if I hadn't come along; your tragedy will have never been made to light."

The Doctor blinked at his words, this time slowly rising to a sitting position, as he held his head with a groan. "JASON…? Tragedy…?" he muttered, confusion evident in his tone, until a few seconds later. "JASON! Oh no, my family-!'

"They're gone, sir. They didn't make it; JASON killed them in cold blood." Vent told him, getting the doctor's attention. The man stared at him wide-eyed for a moment, as if in disbelief. No, it was more like denial at first, then realisation, horror and finally rage.

The teen didn't react when the man grabbed him by his jacket and began yelling in his face. "YOU BASTARD! WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO SAY I'M LUCKY?!" he shrieked, tears streaming down his face. "YOU DON'T GET IT, MY WIFE AND DAUGHTERS WERE MY EVERYTHING, I WOULD HAVE GLADLY DIED IF THEY GOT TO LIVE!'

"But that's the thing, sir, they wouldn't have." Vent replied calmly despite the angry face aimed at him. He grasped the man's right wrist in his hand, gripping it just enough so he would let go. The man did so with a grimace, as Vent continued. "JASON's a killer unlike any other, known for his brutality. He would have killed your wife and kids even if you died; just to 'make sure' nobody is witnessing it. He will lie, cheat and steal just for his own survival."

As the teen spoke, the doctor's rage-filled expression slowly morph to one of sadness, regret and anguish, it was the same with his tears as the former Vigilante forced the harsh reality onto him. He slowly fell to his knees, hands on the ground with his head hanging low. "How do you know this…?" he barely uttered above a whisper.

Vent's eyes darkened with sadness, rage and despair mixed into one horrible sensation. "You could say I have experienced what you have, and by the hands of someone just as bad as JASON." He stated without any emotion in his voice. It made sense; it was all in his eyes instead. No tears fell, but that wasn't because they couldn't. No, it was because they had been spent long ago.

Some heartless folks out there were once kind people… people who once cared too much.

It took a long, tense silence between the two men for the doctor to speak once more. "I… see. I understand…" he muttered, hair shadowing his eyes as his tone lost all the rage, and by extension his life, while rain fell down on them from above. It was as if the heavens themselves wept for the man's tragedy. "I guess I should thank you… sine you saved my life and all."

"No need… I just did what I thought was right, that's all." Vent replied, waving off the slight gratitude in the man's tone. "Besides, that's all you truly can do in this world. 'Right' and 'Wrong' are too generic, in the world we live in; the only definition of those two relies on the individual. You must do what you think is right."

Amon had said that once to an investigator in the second part of the Manga, and it rung true in this situation as well. People took right and wrong into their own hands, which was the only way they could define it in their minds. It was just in some cases those beliefs become a little too twisted for the world's liking. That was why vigilantes exist, to fight the monsters, sometimes on needed to be a monster themselves.

The man was silent, contemplating the boy's words in his mind. It took him a moment to do so, and when he was finished, the man looked up at him and gasped. "You… you're a kid?" he muttered breathlessly, eyes wide in shock as he took in Vent's appearance for the first time. "But you acted so… wise, just then…"

"Even kids teach adults a thing or two, sir…" Vent replied, his lips curving upwards at the right corner slightly. The atmosphere slowly lost its intensity as the conversation progressed, something he was grateful for.

Nevertheless, the man rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Hahahaha, yes my wife used to say the same thing." He gave a bitter chuckle at the memory of his deceased wife, but before he could sink further into his new widowed status, the man blinked owlishly in realisation. "Ah. I haven't introduced myself yet, where are my manners? I'm Asaki Guefuchi, also known as the 'blood doctor' since I excel in blood transfusions and other organ-related transplants." The man, Asaki, introduced himself with friendly smile, offering a hand.

The teen took it, shaking the hand with a small smile of his own. "Vent, no last name. Pleased to meet you, Asaki." He replied pleasantly, while mentally he couldn't help but notice something. 'Asaki is the name of Hinami's father, axed off before the manga started. He was a doctor too, and in league with JASON. I see a reference there…'

Shaking his head to clear those thoughts from his mind, Vent decided to get some information out of the man, JASON wouldn't just target anybody for no reason, while he was brutal in his killings he wasn't stupid. "So, I know this may be hard to talk about, but what was going on back there? What did that guy want with you?" he asked him, frowning with a quirked eyebrow.

It was a short silence, as Asaki frowned, looking down at the ground as he pondered on what to say. This person just saved his life, so he had some debt to him. However, if this experience taught him anything, it was that trust isn't earned in a day. Nevertheless, Asaki decided to speak. "Well, I think he was interested in my field of work. You see, while I excel in making blood transfusions and transplants, I also happen to know how to make a metal out of blood. This metal seems to be able to harm Ghouls like that guy, so they were interested in the method."

'That sounds like the production of Quinque steel…' Vent thought to himself, remaining silent as the man continued. "In the beginning, I was struggling financially, work wasn't cropping up as fast as it used to before ASIC took over, so I was getting desperate. Then, one day I meet someone who says they will fund my clinic if I provide them with Quinque steel. Of course I was suspicious about them, but I was desperate so I accepted the offer."

"But then you found out who those people were, or at least what they did with this metal?"

"Yeah…." Asaki replied, sighing in dejection as his shoulders slumped against the wall he was leaning on. "You see; it was one of JASON's henchmen who gave me the offer. Apparently the Ghouls, as they called themselves, have a use for this metal that I make, saying that while 'it's a copout of the real thing, it can still be used as a Quinque' or whatever that means." He explained.

A bitter chuckle then escaped his lips, the man coughing to clear his throat before resuming his explanation. "So, I rebelled. I did everything I could to slow them down. I knew it would likely end up getting me killed, but I didn't care. I hoped it would be me that would die and not my family, hell I even tied to force them to leave me so they wouldn't be connected to my death, but sadly before it could complete my goal, JASON showed up… and you know the rest."

Vent frowned as he pondered the information he learned by the man. If what he said was true, then this man knew how to make this world's version of Quinque steel, which can be fashioned into Anti-ghoul weaponry. Why JASON and his Ghouls would want such a thing was beyond him, but something told the teen it wasn't for anything good. But since he was proving to be a thorn in their sides, they decided to cut their losses and axe him off. Typical organisation behaviour if you asked him. He suspected they wanted to keep this man for themselves and profit from his work, but with how he acted against them they must have reconsidered.

Looking up at the rain, Asaki frowned as he stood up, Vent doing the same. "The rain doesn't seem to be letting up. I've got to go, I know this street we're on, a friend of mine lives nearby. What about you?" he questioned.

"I have a Party to return to. We have stuff to do then we'll check in at a hotel, or something." Vent replied. Even though he'd only been gone for a couple hours at the most, he missed the girls terribly, their smiling faces, their happy-go-lucky atmosphere, even their jokes at his expense. Just went to show how much he valued them, huh?

Asaki nodded, pleased that he had some friends to help out. "Alright, but here." He handed him a piece of paper, which had a number on it. "My phone number. Give me a call if you need anything, you saved my life today so I owe you." He said with a smile, getting a pleasant smile and a nod in return from the teen, who took the paper and pocketed it.

"Thanks. Well, I'll be seeing you." The male said, turning to leave the alleyway with Asaki doing the same. The two then parted ways, and once he was gone, Vent sighed as he released his Ukaku, taking to the skies and proceeding to head back to the Party.

Not long into his journey back, the rain had stopped, replaced by the sunlight of the afternoon. It was so brief; it felt like it only rained for that moment, that moment of tragedy that befell the old doctor. Sure as the sun will rise, life will continue. Vent knew that was cold, that man looked like he really loved his wife and kids, however life would continue on, waiting for nobody. Those that remained stagnant remained in the darkness, so everyone had to keep moving forwards.

Unfortunately, some people would rather choose the darkness over the light…

Still though, what he told him only sparked more worrisome thoughts in the male, thoughts he would have to share with Histoire whenever he got the chance. He had been in frequent contact with Planeptune's Oracle, updating her on their progress. She was also someone who gave him advice on how to proceed with problems, something he was eternally grateful for since these problems usually extended over how to act around people.

After all, he never didn't have that many close connections to others in his world, for fear that they would be pulled into the world of vigilantism whether they liked it or not. Vent was not so stupid as to believe those lives would remain separate forever, the will be bound to intertwine at some point. It was inevitable, as plain as it was human nature to lie, cheat, steal and betray others for their own gain. That was why he had made sure to stay away from others; it would not only keep them safe from harm, but restricted the potential danger to him. In his world, monsters were everywhere, and not the kind that was in Gamindustri. Real monsters, monsters that would kill and eat you without a second thought, monsters that you cannot beat through normal means. To fight those monsters, only one way existed: you must become a monster yourself.

It was cruel, but that was how the world worked.

* * *

Deep within his mind, Rasen frowned as he heard the thoughts racing through Vent's mind. He wanted him to stop thinking these things, not only was it not healthy, but it was also killing him on the inside.

He could understand what Vent's mind and heart were saying, though. That was the way his world worked. It was cruel, sick and twisted, with so many false illusions of safety and security. Where corrupt souls used the law to cover their own asses and evade justice for their wrongs. While some do try to repent for their actions, they were nothing compared to the number of those who don't.

This world wasn't like their own though, it was clear as day. The civilians here didn't do crime openly thanks to their worshipping of the CPUs. It was ASIC that was the source of their crimes, goading them to commit these acts. That was why they had to go down, both him and Vent agreed on that.

Nevertheless, Vent was under the assumption that he would have to be the monster himself, just like in his old wold, to fight ASIC. In a sense though, he was right, he was the only one who could fight the Ghouls properly, Nepgear may be a CPU Candidate and able to harm them through HDD, but she was very different from a Ghoul-killing expert. She didn't know the things Vent did, thus he was the best Ghoul deterrent around.

Rasen may be a psycho with a sense of humour that involved taking the mick out of people, but even he did have one person to care about: Vent. It was what he was made for, after all, a safety net.

* * *

While on his way back, Vent found himself landing on a rooftop and taking a breather, retracting his Ukaku into him. The reason was that he had spotted something else of interest. A familiar brown haired, pink wearing child was walking down the streets, glancing about with an annoyed look on her face. It was Ram, and she looked like she was looking for something.

'Oh? Wonder what's up here?' the male wondered hopping off the rooftop and landing behind her. "Yo little'n, what you doing?"

"Gah!"

Ram gasped and spun around to face the new arrival, thinking it was an enemy. Before she could summon her magic staff, the little girl fell onto her backside, having lost her balance. "Ouchies… that smarts…" she mumbled, rubbing her bottom before standing up and glaring at him. "Geez, watch it, buster! You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Apologies." Vent replied, giving a sheepish expression and a sweat drop. Looked like she had been so into finding whatever it was that she lost track of her surroundings. Deciding to put that behind them, Vent continued to ask his question. "Anyways, again, what are you doing out here? shouldn't you be at home, or something?"

Ram narrowed her eyes at him, humming in thought. 2Hmmmm, wait, haven't I seen you before… aaah! You're that guy that was with the CPU Dummy!" she exclaimed, pointing a finger accusingly at him. He thought she was going to transform at this rate, and while he would be able to beat her no problem, it wasn't something he wanted to do.

Luckily, he spotted something that could defuse the situation: an ice scream stand that was selling ice cream to several small children with their parents. Looking back to Ram, Vent gave a small smile as he pointed towards it. "Look, you obviously seem stressed, and I promise that I'm not here to hurt you. How about we talk over some ice scream, who knows, it could help you out."

Turned out that he had made the right call, as RAM instantly lost her hostility at the thought of the cold treat, dispersing her Staff back into her Inventory before throwing her arms into the air. "Yaaay, ice scream!" she yelled with a happy smile, making Vent's smile widen. Ram looked so much more adorable when she was smiling, and he meant that in a non-creepy way.

After buying some ice scream with the credits he had, Vent and Rom sat on a nearby bench, enjoying their treat. The teen was once again thankful that somehow he could still eat human foods despite being a Hybrid, as it allowed him to blend in with the crowd and enjoy the desert with this child.

Speaking of Ram, she looked to be enjoying her delight more than even he did. It seemed that her previous distress had all but melted away from her mind with every lick. She sensed him looking at her and gave a huffy snort. "What, you can't have any, weirdo." She said snappily, to which the male raised his hands as a sign of surrender.

"No, no, I wasn't thinking anything like that, I was just noticing how you seem a lot more relaxed now that you've gotten a break from whatever it is your doing earlier." He replied, before lowering his hands to his lap, having finished his ice scream and having skilfully tossed it into a nearby bin from far away, much to Ram's awe. "So anyways, what were you doing out here by yourself? Mina must be worried about you."

At his question, Ram just huffed and looked away, looking like she wasn't going to answer. However, this changed after a few seconds, as se deflated when she saw only patience in his eyes. "I was looking for Rom. She went out hours ago and hasn't gotten back yet, so I got worried. Mina said not to go out, but I couldn't help it so I snuck out the Basili-whataver. Been looking for her ever since."

"Huh… I see." Vent hummed, frowning as he pondered this information. Idly, he took a sniff of the air, trying to see if he could catch her scent. There were so many scents though, so he found this admittingly difficult.

Noticing what he was doing, Ram arched a brow at him curiously. "What are you doing mister? Sniffing the air like that…"

The male paused his efforts, sighing as he turned to address one of Lowee's Candidates. "My nose is… special, I can track people and animals down by their scent. There's so much scent in the air though that it's a bit difficult."

"Wait, so you're saying you smell like a doggie?" Ram asked, blinking owlishly several times, before she burst out laughing, holding her gut and kicking the air in front of her. "Ahahaha! That's so lame, dude!"

Vent had the decency to look sheepish, while he did feel insulted by that comment, he had to admit that he could understand why she sad it. A Dog could track things by scent, but he was no dog, he was half Ghoul. However, the populace didn't know the existence of Ghouls yet, so they didn't go into mass panic and lose all faith in the CPUs.

Just then, an idea popped into his mind, one that he couldn't believe he hadn't thought of before. "Hey, I got an idea, let's go to the place where that mean lady took your sister. If she's been around the city, chances are she's walked by that place at some point. Maybe her scent can be tracked there."

Ram paused her laughing fit as se processed his idea. While she didn't feel safe with talking to a total stranger, Ram did think that Vent was much better than the normal stranger, not only had he helped save he sister, succeeding unlike that CPU dummy, but he was nice enough to hear her problems. That was more than what a stranger would do for someone in need, plus she didn't have any options for finding her sister, so… "Argh, fine." She huffed, getting off the bench and heading off. "Let's go, slowpoke! Race you there!" she called back, laughing as she ran down the street.

"Oi, Ram, wait up!"


	32. Chapter 32 - Vent and Ram

**Chapter 32 Vent and Ram**

The male managed to catch up with the feisty CPU Candidate in about 2 minutes, as while she was a fast runner, he was taller, stronger and faster than she was. In addition, he had his nose to track her Scent. They made their way through the streets, and came to the place where Underling encountered the party and took Rom hostage.

Vent's eyes narrowed as he sniffed the area, his nose detecting a familiar scent. "Looks like Rom was here not long ago…" he remarked, although mentally he couldn't help but think. 'And she was with Nepgear, too. Why did those two meet? What were they doing? Nepgear likely was trying to get into Rom's good books, but the how in that method eludes me.'

While she searched the area for her sister Ram hadn't heard what he said at first, due to being so worried for her sister. It was only after he repeated himself for the third time that she heard, and when she did she was instantly alert. "What?! Rom was here?! Tell me, tell me!" Ram suddenly yelled, turning to him and jumping onto the male.

The male let out a grunt "Ugh!" as he stumbled about, thanks to the sudden weight on his body. He was mentally surprised to find that for a child her size, she sure had some strength on her. It sort-of reminded him of the young Nurse in their party and her giant syringe. "Oi, calm your horses, girl She's fine, I can track her scent down with how strong it is here. She's went to the direction of the Lowee Global Expo Dungeon, and it hasn't been that long either."

From her position on his back, with her arms wrapped around his neck from behind, Ram popped her head out from behind his shoulder, a puffy expression on her face mixed with that of impatience. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get moving already, doggie!" she bellowed, pointing in the direction of the Dungeon Vent had mentioned.

Speaking of said male, Vent grunted as he began running towards the Lowee's exit. He glanced behind him to see Ram holding tightly, making him quirk a brow in annoyance and curiosity. "Alright, why are you hanging on me like this? Pretty sure you can walk on your own."

Ram huffed from her perch behind him, rolling her eyes as she responded indigently. "You track and sniff like a doggie, so I should ride you like a doggie! Now onwards, doggie, my sister awaits!" she bellowed like a brave knight from fairy tales.

The male merely rolled his eyes at this, as he ran along the path with Ram holding on tightly.

"So, what's the deal anyways?" Ram suddenly asked as the male carrying her ran through the countryside to the Dungeon. While slightly surprised and caught off guard by her question, Vent nonetheless retained his running speed. He had been chatting with Rasen on the possible explanations for Nepgear being with Rom at this point in time. Could they have crossed paths during her trip to the bathroom? Could the blue-wearing twin have crashed into Nepgear and thus had to hang around her as an apology? That last one didn't sound like Planeptune's CPU Candidate though, but it WAS suggested by Rasen who enjoyed taking the mick out of people's idiocy, so he didn't give it much thought. Though, Vent felt it best to not tell Ram what he had found out.

Looking up at her from the corner of his eyes, Vent responded with a question of his own. "What do you mean?" he asked. What got Ram so talkative all of a sudden? While confused, a part of him seemed to know what she was about to ask, considering how her face had trace amounts of sadness and loneliness creeping through.

"You know what I mean, what's the deal with you and my sister?"

"Your sister?" Vent blinked, thinking of Rom at first until a bop on the head curtesy of Rasen made him realise just which sister she was talking about. 'Right, three sisters instead of two for Lowee…' he thought to himself, before speaking again when he saw the pouty look on Ram's face. "Oh, you mean Mrs. White Heart! Well, I don't know her personally, to be honest. We are practically strangers to each other." He explained, sidestepping a rather tall rock formation before jumping into the air, bouncing through the countryside with large gaps between bounces.

Ram raised a brow curiously at that. She hadn't really intended to ask one of the helpers of that CPU dummy in her eyes, but it just came out, without her brain's permission. Now that it had, she just had to follow through with it. Maybe she could learn something about her sister's whereabouts! However, his answer didn't serve to raise her hopes very much. "So you haven't seen her before?" she asked him.

Vent smiled at her, as if sensing her trepidation as he responded. "Oh I have seen her, at the Gamindustri Graveyard, where she's being held. I saw her, Nepgear and all the other CPUs there. Believe me, it's not a sight I want to see again." The teen let out a shudder, one that Ram clearly felt from her perch on his back. "I didn't like what I saw back then, no way, no how. It's why I'm on this journey in the first place, to get them out of there and back to those who love them."

After hearing his answer, the honesty and truthfulness behind it made Ram lower her head. It felt as if his words had been the key to slowly unlocking the barriers around her emotions, as she sadly muttered under her breath, and Vent could only hear her thanks to his Ghoul senses. "I miss Blanc… I wanna have more fun with her." Out of the corner of his eye, Vent saw faint traces of lonely tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.

The sight was enough to make Vent want to bring Ram back to lowee and go rip the bonds holding her sister apart with his Kagune, consequences be damned, to get her sister back. Though, he refrained thanks to his desire to comfort the little girl. "I see… you may look like you're unaffected, but really you miss her as much as your twin does. A child always misses their family when they're away…" Vent realised, sighing knowingly as he looked ahead. With Rasen's help he judged that it would be 10 minutes before they reached the dungeon.

A tiny fist hit him on the head, the strength behind it non-existent for someone like him though he could feel the indignant anger in Ram's fist. "Jerk, don't go all-knowy like that, it's really weird!" she admonished him, huffing and turning her head away from him with puffy cheeks.

The male just smirked, his senses telling him that this was a 'Tsundere moment' like he experienced with Uni. Though, it also felt more like childish denial to him than anything else. "Sure, sure. Anyways, it won't be long till we get to the dungeon, so get ready."

With the distraction from their talk, Ram eagerly nodded her head, excited on getting to the bottom of where her sister had been. "Alrigtie then, let's go!" she yelled, jumping onto his shoulders and jumping into the air, quickly transforming into her HDD form before flying off in the direction of the Dungeon. Vent just rolled his eyes as he increased his speed to catch up to her.

* * *

"Alright, I win!" The now human Ram shouted, bouncing up and down excitedly as she waved her tiny arms in the air. She had gotten to the entrance before Vent, who had restricted himself on the use of his Kagune so she held the light advantage. This was the difference between their last race and this one, as well as the fact that Ram never transformed the first time.

Vent, who jogged in moments after she returned to her human form, just shrugged his shoulders with a chuckle. "Yeah, yeah, you won alright, champion of racing you are." He commented, inflating Ram's ego as she humphed and held her hands on her hips with a wide stance. If she were a certain wooden boy doll, she would be elongating her nose with how much falsity was going through her mind. "Anyways, we should focus on finding your sister."

The two began to search the area for Ram's sister Rom and Nepgear, though the former didn't know the truth yet. Since they hadn't been away for too long, there were monsters around to get in their way. They hadn't repopulated the Dungeon yet, something that Vent thanked lady luck that was the case. He had just lived through an encounter with a powerful Ghoul, plus with all the running he'd done made him want to take a break.

However, Vent stayed that stuff off with some Nep Bull, something he had found lying about when some ASIC cultists tossed it aside like it was garbage. Seriously, energy drinks were so underestimated.

A couple hours passed, but nothing came up, and it really started to annoy the hell out of the pink-wearing twin. "Ugh! Where is she? That meanie better play with me for hours when I get to her for making me worry like this!" Rom yelled through the dungeon, stomping her foot on the ground repeatedly.

The male watched her after putting a box back where it was, sweat dropping at her tantrum. Then, he smiled at her, seeing that despite her bratty attitude, she did genuinely care for her sister, cared for her family in general. 'Even at this age, the CPUs have the hearts to care about a large nation as if it were their family… if only there were more people like them in my world, maybe then it would have been more of an enjoyable place…' he thought to himself.

Deciding that some teasing was in order, Vent walked up to her from behind and riffled what he could of her hair, sliding his hand under her large pink and white hat. "Aw, Ram is so adorable when she's angry." He teased in a deliberate girly voice.

His teasing worked, for Ram's face turned red with embarrassment as she shoved his hand off her head, giving him a glare that didn't match the intensity she wanted. "st-stop being a meanieface, meanieface!"

"Hahahahahaha! Sorry, sorry." The teen replied while laughing, raising his hands in surrender before turning on his feet and proceeding to walk to another part of the Dungeon. "Anyways, maybe something could give us a clue as to what Rom was doing here."

While pouting still, Ram nevertheless continued searching for anything that was related to her missing sister. After a short moment passed though, Ram turned to look up at the boy that had volunteered to help her. "Umm, I was wondering something. What are you and the CPU Dummy doing in Lowee anyways? If it's to not take our shares like you say?" she asked him.

The teen looked down at her, before deciding to reply to her. He knew that it wouldn't instantly convince her to help them, but it would be food for thought. "Well, we want to find Lowee's Mascot and enlist her help in saving the CPUs from the Gamindustri Graveyard."

Ram absorbed the information he told her, and despite herself, she had to admit something to her companion. "Well, I guess I can praise the CPU Dummy for her gall, Planpeth, plantune, ugh!" Ram tried to say, but eventually gave up while not noticing Vent stifling his laughter. "That word is so hard to say! Anyways, she's real, real far away from her home…"

After she trailed off, Vent managed to calm down. A soft smile, one that would be reserved for someone the wearer was fond of, crept onto his face. "Yeah… to her, nothing is more important than saving her sister and the other CPUs. She does have her flaws; like goddamnit her self-confidence is lacking. It ticks me off to see her so depressed, makes me want to make her smile again. But she does try her hardest anyways, and that's something I admire about her." Vent explained, fond memories of the Planeptune CPU Candidate entering his mind.

It was true as well; even the mocking, cynical Rasen had to admit this, that Nepgear had guts down pat when it came to something she wanted to do. She just required a little motivation. A small blush formed on his face as he recalled what 'motivation' IF gave Nepgear that one time, though he quickly shook it off.

"Bleh!" Ram stuck her tongue out and made a disgusted expression. "I don't wanna hear about some dummy CPU, I wanna hear more about my awesome sister!" she yelled, although Vent suspected it was more of a whine than anything. He looked into her eyes and saw that, while she was denying it, what he said did seem to leave an impact on her. Whether that impact was good or not remained to be seen.

When she was done with her little tantrum, Ram looked up at him, and this time there was little denial in her eyes, more of an innocent curiosity, like a new-born infant experiencing snow for the first time. "Um, I just thought about this, but why are you helping me?"

"Aside from the fact that you asked me?" Vent replied with a slight smirk, before deciding to drop the BS and give it to her straight. "Well, I don't like seeing women sad. You could say I have a soft spot for them. Plus, you reminded me of someone I knew long ago, someone I cared for more than you'll ever understand." He explained, and as he did so, like a plague sadness began to spread across his smile, tainting the purity it had.

"So if I were someone who wasn't reminding you of this person, you wouldn't help me?"

Now that just insulted him, and he made his displeasure known to the small CPU Candidate. "Heck yeah, I would. I always help the innocent, even if they are annoying at times. If I didn't then I wouldn't be a true man, something that most males in this world seem to lack. Plus, Nepgear wouldn't forgive me if I left you alone like that, I'm meant to be a good example to her. IF, RED and Compa too, they see me as an example of what a guy should be like, and not what they're currently like."

His words ended, Vent resumed his search for answers. Unbeknownst to him however, Ram watched him silently, her eyes carrying something to it… something different, although it vanished quickly as she also resumed the search.

After a bit more searching, Vent and Ram returned to the city, the male accompanying her to the Basilicom. Once he had dropped her off, the male decided to return to the others. When he thought about them, Vent groaned to himself as he realised that he was way later than the allotted timeframe IF had specified for him. 'Ugh, goddamnit, IF's gonna be pissed…' the male thought to himself.

When he finally found the girls at the same spot where the kids were once at, his thoughts were proven true when he saw the brunette lecturing Nepgear about being late. The teen silently approached Compa from behind, hoping that the brunette wouldn't notice him as he patted her on the shoulder.

Curious about who touched her there, Compa turned and her eye sparked up at seeing the male Hybrid. "Ven-Ven, you're here!" she exclaimed, much to his horror as he tried to tell her to keep it down.

Turned out it was in vain, for IF had heard her friend and now her fierce eyes turned over to him. "You! Gear, I can get she's a bit of an airhead at times." IF began, not noticing or ignoring the slight grimace that Nepgear did at the harsh jab. "But YOU are supposed to be the leading example here! What the hell were you doing that took you so long?! Do you know how worried we were?"

"I um…"

Vent tried to say something, but whatever he wanted to say wouldn't leave his lips for some reason. The look in IF's eyes told him she wouldn't accept any excuses either, and when he glanced to Nepgear, her saw her giving him an apologetic smile and… a thumbs-up.

His brow twitched in irritation.

'Was she throwing me to the wolves?!'

 **'** **HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Revenge, bitch! I came back!'**

'That doesn't even make sense in this situation, Rasen!'

Before IF could unload more on the male like a Gatling gun, RED marched over and popped between the two, much to their surprise as Vent and IF stepped backwards. "So hey…" she began, fidgeting nervously for a moment before she just decided to go with her current train of thought. She didn't want to get bonked on the head again. "I hate to interrupt this Wifey spat, but aren't we in a pretty major hurry?"

IF groaned, making to do something, but she stopped herself once she processed the girl's words. She was right after all, while Vent and Nepgear were away, they had gotten a major discovery that would decrease their time significantly. "Ugh, yeah, you're right… This is no time to scold each other."

"Oh, did something happen?" Nepgear asked with a hopeful smile. Vent raised a brow as he too listened in, wanting to know what had happened while they were away. It must have been major if RED bringing it up made IF relent like this. Usually, she wouldn't stop for at least 15 minutes, up to an hour if Nepgear or the others did something idiotic. He should know, having witnessed it several times in the past.

It was Compa who answered as IF remained silent, trying to keep her urges in check. "We overheard Miss Underling on her cellular telephone!" she chirped happily. "She was saying things like "Mascot", and "Block Dungeon" and other nifty keywords."

 **'** **I think I know which dungeon she's talking about. On our return trip from the Expo, both times BTW, I saw a faint silhouette that looked kinda blocky in the opposite direction. Looked really tall, too. Bet you anything that's the Dungeon Underling's skedaddling to.'** Rasen informed him.

At this point, Vent figured that his tenant would use his senses to look into the outside world regardless of his permission or not. Though, he didn't scold him this time since his efforts led to the possible location of this Dungeon. 'You know; I'm starting to think that you're going to do this regardless of whether you have my consent or not… it's kind of worrying.'

He didn't get a vocal answer, which only heightened his concerns.

Back with the girls, RED bounded back to the group while IF and Nepgear did the same, the Party gathering around to convene on their next move. "My money is that she went to the Dungeon she mentioned on the phone! Let's get there ahead of her!"

Vent took a moment to process this, before he glanced towards the redhead with a raised eyebrow. "And when did you know how to bet money, RED? I would have thought you spent it all in one go."

"It was just an expression, Venny! How would I please my Wifeys if I can't manage my monies?!"

"Moving on before those two get into another spat…" IF began, groaning as she brought the two back to the subject at hand. Really, they could be so childish at times. She then directed her gaze towards him and Nepgear with a stern frown. "So now you know. It'd be a facepalm moment for me if we lost because of you, so let's move."

"O-Okay!"

The party, with their goal made clear, soon left the Lowee Capital towards the Dungeon, called 'World Labyrinth'. IF had already gotten the word on its location thanks to her contacts, so they knew where to go. Throughout the journey, it was made clear that the Dungeon Rasen had seen was the Dungeon they were looking for, so there would be no punishment for him.

* * *

Along the way to the Dungeon, Vent had asked Nepgear what had happened during his absence. She had told him, after nervously fidgeting for a moment that she had went to the bathroom since Underling didn't look like she was making any progress in her search. After finding a place to do her thing, the pinkette had gotten lost, much to her dismay. It was at that point she had come across Rom, who had been distraught over the loss of a Pen. Nepgear and Rom then worked together to find it, leading to some conversation between them about her connection to Lady White Heart, or Blanc as she was called, and her intentions for coming to Lowee. Eventually, they found the pen, and after Nepgear had dropped Rom back off at the Basilicom, she had come rushing back.

The male had smirked in pride for the purple haired girl as she explained this, patting her on the head affectionately and praising her for her good deeds. Things like that would end up with her earning Rom's trust, and eventually, Ram's as well. She had practically beamed at the praise to her, giggling like a kid who got complimented by her parents.

Finally, they arrived at the Dungeon… or rather, the base of it. 'Why does this remind me of Avatar, not the last air bender, but the James Cameron's Avatar?' he wondered, looking upwards. The entrance to the Dungeon was easy enough to get to…, if you counted climbing vines and large blocks to be easy. The blocks floated in the air, held in place by a gravitational field, connected to the Dungeon by a mix of different Vines. Nothing made them move, not even the winds themselves when they breezed through the area. Snow, frost and ice covered the Vines, making the possibility of the Vines being alive to be unlikely. However, how they still worked like this confused the hell out of him.

IF grinned at the sight, her eyes sparkling with vibrancy and energy. "Heh-heh, this looks like fun." She remarked, rolling back her sleeves so her hands plus her forearms were shown to the world. She then reared her arms back, bending her torso forwards before making a mighty leap. She grasped one of the vines, her legs swinging wildly below her before she wrapped them around the Vine she managed to grab. She then began to climb the Vine, heading up to the first block. The Vine swung about thanks to her weight until she reached the block, grasping onto its ledge and flipping on top of it.

When she was beginning to climb the next Vine in a similar manner, IF glanced down and saw the Party down below. "Come on, you slowpokes!" she yelled a gleefully. "Last one there's a rotten egg!" the brown-haired woman then resumed climbing, arguably livelier than before with a shrill cry of enjoyment escaping her lips.

Compa sweat dropped at the sight, offering a weak smile as she watched IF climb up the vines and blocks at near superhuman speeds. "Iffy always did like the smell of adventure. I guess climbing trees and vines in Leanbox was an eye-opener for her." She remarked. Her and IF had been childhood friends, and over the course of their time together, the young Nurse noticed that the brunette loved going outside and climbing stuff. Be it trees, walls, Vines, anything climbable was fair game to her. To see this side of her was rare with current events being as they were, but to see it at all made her noticeably giddy. It was like seeing the older IF before ASIC came into their lives.

Everyone else, nodded at their friend's words as they saw IF move. "Riiiiight…" Vent drawled, and as he thought about it for a moment, he realised that it made sense for IF to have a thrill for adventure and was probably why she became a Guild Agent in the first place. The way she was right now, may have been what she was like as a child.

Just then, a large grin swept across his features, slightly disturbing the group as he bounded over to a Vine while yelling. "Oh no you don't, girl! You're not gonna get there before me!" While IF managed to get to the first block within 5 minutes, he did so in 30 seconds, so he was quickly closing the gap between them as he climbed. 'Hey, Rasen!' He yelled in his mind. 'I know what we talked about reserving the Kagune for dire situations, but…!'

 **'** **Say no more, lets show that lass whose boss around here! Let's pound her till she begs for mercy, which we won't give!'**

'… Not what I would have said, but I'll take it!'

With that, Vent reached a block and stood atop it. He then released his Rinkaku, seeing as the gravitational field might scramble his Ukaku's flight abilities, before having each Tentacle help him scale the blocks instead of the vines. It wasn't long till he caught up with the brunette, and thus the two became locked in a race to the top.

"And there they go…" Compa muttered as she gave a weak smile. She couldn't help but chuckle at the childishness being displayed by those two. Honestly, IF and Vet went from one scolding the other, to equal rivals in a race. It was almost exhausting to keep up with their mood shifts at times, although it made for interesting entertainment.

RED quickly began bouncing up and down on her feet. "Do your best, my tomboy Wifey!" she called out while placing her hands around the edges of her mouth like a makeshift speaker. She then began to jump onto a Vine to follow the two, though she didn't intend to try and beat them in their little race. She didn't want to risk losing wifey points with IF, if she beat her. Considering the pride, the Guild Agent possessed, the Wifey seeker felt that was more likely of the two scenarios to happen.

"Um, I'm not sure about this… isn't there either way upwards?" Nepgear asked, shuffling nervously as she eyed the Vines, like they would kill her if they let her. Just looking at them was enough to give her chills, and the way they swayed due to the weight recently been applied to them didn't exactly help settle her nerves.

Compa, the only one who was still with her, noticed this. "Don't worry Ge-Ge, nothing bad will happen. If Nep-Nep were here, she'd say something like 'You're the protag of this story, Nep Jr, at least till I take the spotlight! So, entrust your heart to plot armour, and you'll never go wrong!'" She exclaimed as she changed her voice to that of a younger, high pitched one while doing various movements, to imitate the CPU of Planeptune that Nepgear remembered.

Her efforts did serve to cheer her up though as a bright smile formed on her features. "I' surprised you can do that, Compa… to know big sis long enough to copy her meta jokes is amazing…" her feelings of doubt and fear evaporated though, so the efforts bore fruit as she pumped her fists in front of her chest. "Right! Neptune would say that, probably along with 'you can do it, Nep Jr! Believe in the 'me' that believes in you!' or something. Let's go, we can't fall behind the others!" with that, Nepgear jumped onto the Vines and began climbing upwards.

"Hehehehe, Ge-Ge is so adorable… oh, what's this?"

* * *

Moments later, both Vent and IF jumped and reached the main entrance to the Dungeon. All they could see was different coloured blocks as far as the eye could see, but that wasn't what they were focused on right now as the two turned to each other and pointed towards the other. "Hah, I win, beat that!"

Realising that they had said it at the same time as each other, both fighters glared competitively at each other. "No, I win! Hey, stop copying me! No, you, No, you!" they continued to yell, first getting up close and personal, before gripping the collars of their respective coat/jackets. Sparks flew between their eyes, and not ones of love like one would assume.

The sounds of heavy breathing broke them out of their glaring contest though, as they looked back to the ledge they recently emerged from to see Nepgear and RED, both looking exhausted as they planted their chins on the ledge, swirly marks replacing their eyes as they breathed heavily. "So… tired…!" the two whined as their friends pulled them onto the ledge.

"Wow girls, did you try to keep up with me?" IF questioned, making Vent gain a twitching brow as she ignored him for the time being. "Gear, I can understand since she's never done that sort of thing before, but you RED? Come on, you can do better than that."

While struggling to regain her breathing, RED had just enough energy to look up and pout at the brunette Guild Agent. "Hey, climbing Vines isn't as easy as you made it to be! Iffy has experienced a minor wifey points reduction on her route!" she yelled, flailing her arms dramatically to get a sweat drop from the brunette.

"Aw, looks like Iffy's wedding to RED will have to be put on hold…" Vent sighed with fake tears, falling onto all fours while trying to wipe them away with his jacket's sleeve as he lamented the 'tragedy' that is IF and RED's failed Wedding. For some reason, a tragic spotlight had shone on him during this, like those spotlights in tragic love stories.

RED soon joined him in his weeping, mirroring his actions though hers was more real than his was. "#sniff, sniff#, y-yes… I feel your pain, V-Venny. I-I feel your pain, buddy… #sob#." She lamented with a slight wail to the end of her sentence, not seeing the slight smirk on his features as he mentally thanked her for helping get payback for the previous ignoring of his presence.

Their 'act' succeeded in winding IF up like a doll though, as she gained a tick mark on her forehead and angrily stomped her foot. "Hey, stop that! There is NO wedding planned, none at all! Besides, isn't RED supposed to be 'wifeys' with Gear?!"

Hearing her name in their conversation, Nepgear gaped at them when she realised the context behind it, her eyes white circled with black outlines around them to express her shock and dismay. "Eh?!"

Her attitude turned a complete 180 as RED jumped to her feet, a beaming smile with stars practically twinkling around her head as she grinned at IF, wagging a finger at her. "Now, now, Iffy, love comes in ALL forms, you know!"

Jumping to his feet with the redhead Wifey seeker, Vent had a small smirk on his face as he continued with RED's charade. "That's right, IFFY! Don't fight your feelings, now!"

"Hush, you! Get laid already!"

Before IF could proceed with pummelling the two for teasing her, the sound of a door opening broke them out of their thoughts. All turned to the source, finding one of the blocks to open like a pair of elevator doors to reveal a cheery Compa, who walked out as the doors closed behind her. "Hello everybody! How's It been?"

…

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A long drawn out silence passed through the area as the group gave blank stares towards the young Nurse, who was smiling in ignorant bliss while swaying from side to side. Finally, Vent was the one to break the silence as he raised a hand and pointed to the block behind her. "Compa… you just came out there, right?"

"Uh huh!"

"I can assume that was an elevator, right?"

"Yessy."

"What Vent is TRYING to say…" IF began with a twitching eyebrow, her earlier irritation back with a vengeance. This time though, the victim wasn't the sole male of the group, but the young nurse. "Is how the hell did you get up here without having to get up all those vines!?" she finally yelled at the end. At first she had been calm, almost disturbingly so, until about the second word of her sentence that is as her calm demeanour shattered like a mask being destroyed.

Compa's expression shifted to from blissful ignorance, to confusion at their questions. Just when IF was about to blow up again, realisation crossed onto her face as Compa put a fist on top of her open palm. "Oh, that makes sense!" she exclaimed, before pointing to the block behind her. "It was right beside us this whole time. I only spotted it when everyone was climbing, so I couldn't tell anyone."

…

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This time, the silence was 3 times as long, this time with the addition of Compa who shuffled nervously under their dull stares. All of them felt particularly like idiots as they registered what Compa had told them. They had wasted time with the Vines when they could have used their eyes to look for the Elevator and save SO MUCH TIME. IF had been too eager to climb again, Vent was too competitive to notice, and the last two were lost causes.

In the end, IF simply turned on her heels, staring to walk into the Dungeon with her Qatars appearing from her Inventory and into her waiting hands. "… Let's just forget about this and move on. I'm tired already from this bullshit." She stated simply, without any emotion whatsoever. Combine Vent and RED's teasing, with Compa's previous discovery making IF feel like an idiot, made this day a real crappy one. What, was the Mascot going to be destroyed, too? Come on, even their luck wasn't that bad…

Right?


	33. Chapter 33 - Lowee Mascot

**Chapter 33 - Lowee's Mascot**

Within the Lowee Basilicom, one CPU Candidate known as Ram pouted angrily as she drew on some paper with some crayons, lying on the ground of her room and on her belly. She excluded an aura of anger and worry as she pondered what had happened after Vent dropped her off. 'That meanie… he just left me to Mina, throwing me to the wolves like that…'

Obviously, things had not gone well for her, because from the moment they stepped into the Basilicom, like a hound sniffing their tail Mina was just there, her standard smile etched onto her face. However, both couldn't feel happy at seeing that smile, for shadows darkened her face and an ominous red aura was around her. It made her look like the devil himself as she all but demanded to know where she had been.

Before Ram could think of an excuse, though as much as it pained her to admit it, she doubted she'd find one that would have satisfied the Oracle in that state, Vent had hurriedly summarized the events that happened when Ram had disobeyed Mina's orders and left to go find her sister. Afterwards, she thanked him politely, grasped Ram's hand with a deceptively light grip, and dismissed him. The male had bolted faster than the speedy blue hedgehog so he could get back to his party…

Plus, away from that angry Oracle. Mina was most certainly scary when she lost it.

She only barely managed to make it to Ram's room before beginning a rather harsh scolding of the poor girl, confining her to her room for disobeying her orders and making her worry. She was literally put on house arrest though, and Ram wouldn't dare try to leave the same way she did before, because A: she could tell there were guards outside the windows now, and B: it'd make Mina even angrier with her. Angry Mina was scary Mina, something she sadly had much experience with.

While Ram pondered and brooded over her situation, she heard the sound of the door handle clicking, meaning someone from the other side was opening it. At first Ram paled as she feared it was Mina, until the door opened and it was revealed to be the long lost twin she had spent all day searching for, winding up getting scolded by Mina for it.

Seeing her sister after so long filled Ram with a mix of emotions, relief and anger being the key ones as she stood up from her position on the ground and stomped towards her. "Jeez, there you are!" she yelled, now standing before her sister who flinched at the angry girl. Where the heck did you go?!"

"Sorry…" Rom meekly replied, and if she could, she would have shrunken herself so that she was as small as possible. That way she could possibly avoid Ram's glares. Her shy, timid little mind couldn't handle being glared at for long, it was just in her nature. "I dropped my pen, so I was out looking for it."

Ram blinked, her anger being replaced by surprise for a moment. "Your pen?" she asked, getting a nod from the other girl. Her anger then returned with a side dose of frustration. "Don't do that alone, you dummy." She scolded her. Rom looked like she was about to cry with the constant scolding, so she wasn't prepared by the ruffling of her head that Ram had done afterwards. "I coulda helped you look for it…

It was then Rom spoke something that made Ram gape in shock, something that she didn't expect her to say, and not with a fond smile like the one she was putting on right now. "But I wasn't alone…" she began, closing her eyes as the fond memories she had with the Planeptune CPU Candidate came to her mind. "Miss Nepgear was with me…"

If hearing that her sister was hanging around the CPU Dummy was bad enough, hearing how she addressed the CPU Candidate as a 'Miss' filled her mouth with a disgusting aftertaste. "Miss" Nepgear? Blech…" she groaned, sticking her tongue out and quivering with a rapid shake of her head.

"Hey," Rom began as she went to pacify her sister. She raised her hands peacefully as she stepped towards her. "She was nice to me… she helped me… so…" she tried to say, hoping that she could persuade her big sister.

However, it was all for naught, for Ram was still adamant about her previous opinion about Nepgear. She stumbled backwards, retaining her balance yet looked at Rom like she was an alien or something else she hadn't seen before. "Wh-What's gotten into you?! She's our enemy! A big, bad CPU!"

Rom frowned as she heard her sister's words. Memories came back to her about her time spent with Nepgear, the kindness she showed her when she was searching for something precious to her. That wasn't the kind of person she and her sister had read in the books in the Library, she couldn't imagine Nepgear being like that if she helped her like she did. Plus, there was what she said, and Rom felt like she could trust her there. In the end, Rom shook her head at Ram's words, frowning. "Um… I think you're wrong…"

Her words made Ram go agape with shock, her world feeling like it had been crushed when she heard how her sister disagreed with her on something, which now that she had thought about it, never happened before! Ever! The feeling of betray rose within her chest into a painful sensation, something that Ram's childish mind couldn't comprehend. Why? Why was this happening?

"I'm… what?" she asked in shock, before continuing in disbelief. "Seriously, what's your deal?" There just had to be an answer to this, there just had to be! Oh, wait! Ram's eyes widened as an idea hit her, one that she clung to like a lifetime. "Oh, I know!" she then grasped onto her sister's staring deep into her eyes as if trying to find something. "She brainwashed you to think she's on our side!"

Unfortunately, Ram's idea was shot down as Rom shook her head in denial, her brown hair swaying slightly with every shift in direction her head made. "Uh-huh." She said, breaking off from her sister's slackened grip.

As Rom said this, Ram looked like she was about to lose it. She couldn't understand what was happening to her sister, why she was disagreeing with her. They practically grew up together since their sister didn't have much time to spend with them, leaving them to their own devices. They always had each other's back, from playing pranks on the workers to ticking off their older sister to get her away from her work to play with them. So what changed? What was different about this time that made the answer different from the others?

Just as Ram was about to explode, a loud tremor shook the entirety of Lowee, nearly making the girls fall over. They each gave startled cries, one leg each in the air as they flailed their arms to maintain balance. However, their efforts ultimately proved fatal as they slammed into the ground front-first.

"Ouch!"

"Owwie…!"

Both girls cried in pain as they felt the impact hit their fronts full force. Sitting up, the two girls rubbed their fronts to try and sooth the aches, till they subsided moments later. "What the heck was that? Was it an earthquake?" Ram cried out as she rushed towards the window. In her mind, Lowee was their playground, so seeing it damaged was a big no-no for her!

"It felt really far away though…" Rom frowned in thought, clenching her hands in front of her chest. A sense of dread and worry swelled inside her gut, yet she didn't know why. She didn't like not knowing, nor did she like these feelings themselves. Rushing to where Ram was, and subsequently forgetting their little argument earlier, Rom stood on her tippy toes to poke her head out to see where the tremor came from. Unfortunately for the twins, because of their small height they couldn't see completely, the window was too high up.

Releasing a frustrated cry, Ram looked around for anything to use, before settling on a wooden chair from her Desk. She knew it was hers because it was all pink, while Rom's was all blue. Ram ran towards it and grabbed the chair, Rom soon mirroring her actions as they put the chairs against the wall below the window. Standing atop them, the twins found looking out their window much easier, and when they did they saw that the city wasn't all too affected.

"Whew, looks like Lowee's still kicking."

"Uh huh… but where did it come from…?"

Now that they were relieved with the recent revelation of their playground being okay, Ram and Rom looked to each other with confusion etched onto their faces. "This feels like one of those hard-to-get mystery books Blanc used to read." Ram mused thoughtfully, before giggling as a memory came back to her. "She looked so mad when we drew smiley faces on the pages!"

Even Rom had a quiet giggle at the memory. While Blanc had a quick temper, it was always funny seeing her snap and try to catch them while spewing weird words every 2 seconds. "Yes… it was funny…"

Out of the corner of their eyes, the CPU Candidates of Lowee suddenly spotted something in the distance. Their eyes were better than normal humans, even though they were kids, something that was an unchangeable fact. Thus, they noticed a smoke trail rising in the distance, within the entrance of a block Dungeon they recognised as the World Labyrinth. "Look, Rom! There's smoke coming from there!" Ram exclaimed, pointing towards it like it was the most bizarre thing ever.

"Uh huh… I wonder why…?"

Both children looked to each other, frowning in thought. If something happened to their home, then Blanc and Mina would take care of it and leave them out of it. They were children, both physically and mentally, so they weren't meant to do anything as of yet. Though, they were going to remain this way for life since they were CPU Candidates. No growth into adults for them, unfortunately. Though, in hindsight Lowee Citizens wouldn't mind that one bit, given their… fetishes.

Shudder.

After a moment of deliberation, Ram came to a decision. While she was scared of what Min would do once she found out, her childish, innocent mind wanted to know what the source of the smoke was. It was in her nature to be curious about the unknown, every child was. That was a big reason why she and Rom liked going outside the Basilicom, even under restrictions by the Lowee Oracle.

"Rom, we're going out there!" She suddenly proclaimed out of the blue, pumping her fist over her small chest before turning on her boots to face the coat rack, where her pink coat and hat were hanging on. Rom's were there too, but on the opposite side. It wasn't too tall so they could get their coats on their own.

Blinking, Rom almost jumped at the long-haired girl's words, a small squeak escaping her lips. "H-Huh?" she managed to say, although it was high pitched thanks to how startled she was as she watched Ram pull her coat and hat off the rack, went to her bed to get her little purse, before putting them on.

When she had everything on, Ram turned to her sister and explained what she wanted to. "I wanna see what's over there, don't tell me you're not curious too." She whined, flailing her arms in the air. "Mina's a bully at times, plus as CPU Candidates, don't we have to, you know, do candidate-stuff-thingies? Maybe this way we can prove ourselves!"

Despite everything, Ram felt that sometime in the battlefield might help straighten things out between her and Rom. Hopefully something to take their minds off this spat, though this was the first time Rom argued with her, would sort things out. 'Stupid CPU Dummy! Stop trying to corrupt my sister!' she yelled in her mind.

Then, flashes of Vent appeared in her mind, and Ram's tantrum came grinding to a halt as her arms fell to her sides and her furious expression morphed into a pensive one. She remembered what he did for her, how he helped her look for her sister without expecting payback, even brought her back home without any fuss. 'He still left me to Mina, though…' Ram thought with a pout, though she didn't blame him for that one. Nobody wants to make Mina mad lest they invoke the MULK SMASH on their heads.

Shaking her head, Ram looked to where Rom was, and found that during her charade she had also gotten ready, holding her signature weapon, a white staff, in her hands and close to her chest. "I-I'm ready, Ram…"

A grin swept across her face as Ram cheered. "Yay! Kicking monster butt is the best way to fly!" she bellowed, before casting a spell that opened the window. She and Rom then flew out of the window, above the shocked Guards outside who quickly went to report to Mina that they had once again left their rooms.

* * *

"Dude! Mascot Sighted!"

RED Cheered as she pointed in the direction of a large open space, looking similar to where the other Mascots in the previous two Nations had been located. The area was saturated in an ethereal light, illuminating the surroundings with the Mascot itself floating in the centre. But there was something different about this one, something that only Vent seemed to notice. 'This Mascot…' he thought, his eyes trailing downwards towards the ground below. 'Why the hell is it in the middle of one of those occult circles?'

Indeed, the Mascot did indeed float, inside a barrier made entirely of energy, but on the ground was what looked like a Magic circle those that were in the occult back in his world would use. It constantly pulsated with white energy, with the illuminating glow around it shielding the circle from view mostly. However, his Ghoul side was able to detect it with ease, for this could only hinder HUMAN sight.

Nevertheless, Compa spoke before Vent could comment on this. "We made it here first." She said, stating the obvious. Nobody commented about her stating the obvious since it was a habit of hers. In a way, it was a good part of her, since it showed that while innocent, she would definitely speak her mind.

The Mascot suddenly stopped bobbing up and down, and they all got the feeling that it had been roused from its slumber, especially with what it said. "Whose there?" it asked. This one, in comparison to the last 2, seemed relatively calm and mild. Planeptune's Mascot was all happy and cheerful, while Lastation's was stoic and all business-savvy. Something told Vent, IF and Nepgear that they'd have an easier time talking to this Mascot, somehow.

Nepgear stepped forwards with a lowering of her head for a bow. "Hello." She began, before raising her head with her hands put together in front of her abdomen. "We're sorry to intrude, but we'd like to ask for your help. Can you please lend us aid?"

'Wow, just straight to the point there, huh?' Rasen commented dully within Vent's mind, the male mentally agreeing with his tenant as both sweat dropped at the girl's response. 'Think she's gonna need our help soon enough?'

'Let's wait for now, see how she does on her own. This is her opportunity to grow, and this is her quest, so she has to have the spotlight. Also, like a certain wall-breaking red and black Merc-with-a-mouth would say, 'the MC needs some love, not some lame OC.''

The Mascot didn't speak for a moment, just floated there without making any indication it had heard her. RED was starting to look impatient, but luckily before she could blow her casket, Vent and IF stopped her by giving her a joint glare. Wilting under these glares, RED backed down, mumbling to herself thinking nobody could hear her. Shame Vent did, thanks to his Ghoul senses, but he didn't comment.

Eventually, the Mascot spoke, but when it did, everyone got confused. "Is that… Neptune? No, no… You resemble her, but your aura is unmistakably different." It remarked, before Vent felt its gaze fall onto him. He had no physical indication of this as the Mascot had no facial features to do so with, he just KNEW. It didn't say anything, but he got the feeling it was analysing him critically, as if sizing him up.

This didn't last for long since Nepgear placed a hand on her chest and questioned the Mascot on what it said before. "You know my sister?" she asked her on confusion. As far as she knew, Neptune didn't talk much about the Mascots, heck she usually was so into her games and Pudding that she didn't pay much attention to anything else.

"Your sister, huh? I see… You're her younger sister…" The Mascot hummed thoughtfully, a wave of energy passing through the air around them. It seemed that this Mascot, unlike the last two, was unaware of Nepgear's existence. Did that mean something? Did that indicate something important? Vent didn't know, but he had a feeling they were about to find out. "I know Neptune very well. She was the one who asked me to stay here, after all."

…

…

…

… Huh.

'Wait, huh? I'm going back over the chapters… Aha, yes, IF did say that Neptune was lazy and did little work as a CPU back in Lastation. So what the fuck is with this bullshit about her actually HELPING?!'

Rasen shuddered within Vent's mind, confused and understandably so. Vent honestly wasn't much better; he was busy wondering what he had missed. From what he was told, Neptune seemed to him like she was a slacker who didn't do much of importance. So, what was with this information? He could tell there was no lie in the Mascot's voice due to how unwavering the Mascot was in its response, so that meant it was being truthful. Plus, it seemed to be tasked to do something, likely by a deity of higher power if this Magic Circle was any indication.

Meanwhile, IF blinked as her surprise was shared with the rest of the Party. "What?" she questioned to voice what she was feeling through her voice. This wasn't something she expected to hear when coming to this Dungeon. To her, the things that she heard from the Mascot contrasted greatly with what she knew of Planeptune's CPU. And yet, she still found it confusing, what the Mascot said anyways. Thus, it was time to investigate this claim. "Why would Planeptune's CPU give orders to Lowee's Mascot?"

"Lowee has no Mascots. ASIC made sure of that." The Lowee Mascot explained. "Before their disappearance, the shadowy organisation you all know today operated only in the shadows, away from the public eye. Only the CPUs were aware of them, and during that time, many Mascots perished at their hands. Unfortunately, that includes ALL of Lowee's." the Mascot explained, a solemn air filling the vicinity.

Hearing what the Mascot said, Compa gasped as she made the connection between the story and the identity this Mascot had. She remembered Neptune complaining about something like this in the past, but at the time she had just dismissed it as her being weird, like usual. Looked like her ranting had more merit than she thought. "Then, you're…?"

The Mascot bobbed up and down like it was jerking, its' version of nodding. "I was originally one of Planeptune's Mascots, until I came here on Neptune's behest." The Lowee Mascot told them, a low hum escaping its form. "She asked that I ensure prosperity for Lowee, a land that had lost all its Mascots."

Nepgear had her jaw agape at this information. Memories flooded her mind, memories of their happy times before ASIC became the threat that it was today. She didn't know the full details, but in the weeks leading up to Neptune, herself, and the other CPUs capture by that organisation, the Planeptune CPU Candidate had noticed that her sister had seemed oddly agitated, like something was going wrong and there was no way to fix it. She had been her usual self, but there had been this tense force behind her smile that Nepgear didn't like one bit. Now she knew why, and now she could understand how her sister felt at that moment… sort of. "Neptune…"

'… Huh. I see, so Planeptune's CPU can be responsible when she wants to be. I bet she was just angry that one of her friends was in danger and wanted to help her. Despite her laziness, she did seem like someone who would help in when needed.' Rasen commented inside Vent's mind with a thoughtful tone in his voice. Still, both of them found it difficult to imagine the person they learned from their comrades and the person this Mascot was describing.

Though, since CPUs transform and get personality shifts, maybe this was done when she transformed, or something.

Nevertheless, the Mascot continued to speak, getting their attention once more. "That said, I cannot help you. It would go against the order that your own sister gave me. Or do you wish to ignore your sister's commands and force me to come along with you?" when the Mascot spoke that last part, its tone had turned harsher, with a slight edge to it as it directed a small gust of wind in her direction.

Everyone blinked at the unusually harsh question that the Mascot had asked them, momentarily caught off guard. The past two Mascots had been civil with them, if a bit quirky. This one however, seemed to behave unlike either of them, something they didn't expect when debating on what would happen when they eventually found it.

More so, Nepgear got incredibly flustered as he expression morphed to one of complexity. It looked clear that's he was at war with herself, 2 opposing sides vying for control within her. She shuffled with discomfort, poking her index fingers together as she refused to look at anyone's gaze right now. "Th-That's… But Neptune's being held captive, so… Um, well, I mean, we should…"

The Mascot eyed the CPU Candidate with intensity, before they all felt its gaze soften. "Sorry. Perhaps my words were a bit harsh." It admitted. It seemed that Nepgear wasn't as mature as Neptune had been the last time she had been in Planeptune, nor did she have the same air as her older sister. It had initially assumed she would be the ambitious type, here to become the next CPU through any means necessary. Now though, it realised just by looking at her and seeing her reaction, that this wasn't the case. "That said, those reasons are not the only ones I have for remaining here."

'You know, something tells me this little magic circle it's in has something to do with this…' Vent assumed to himself, eyeing the ground around the Mascot. Nevertheless, it continued after briefly glancing towards him. "The Oracle gave me an important duty, one that I cannot ignore, for it would mean Lowee's downfall." The Mascot explained grimly.

IF furrowed her brows, she remembered something similar said by the Oracle when they first met her… although that memory also brought back memories of the twin CPU Candidates. Those two, pulling their eyelids down at them in her mind, made a snort of annoyance escape her throat. She made sure it was barely audible, though, so nobody heard it. "I guess I recall the Oracle saying something about the mission, although she didn't say what it was." She remarked. "Maybe you could tell us what that is?"

"Well…"

The Mascot bobbed up and down with uncertainty. It was hard to tell, with its lack of facial features, but that was indeed the impression the others got from it. It looked like it was deliberating telling them about this so-called 'mission' that it was charged with. However, just before it could say anything here…

A loud laugh came from the entrance to the Dungeon, belonging to a certain someone the Party were MORE than acquainted with. "Found ya! Your mine, Mascot!" The voice yelled, and when the Party turned, they saw it was… ugh, Underling.

RED was the first of them to come out of her stupor and react to this, as she gave a loud shout before pointing right at her, nobody bothering to stop her this time. "Underling already caught up!" she yelled. Everyone else released collective groans, already? Damn, that girl sure was fast when she wanted to be.

Though, they WERE following her here, so she must have gotten lost fighting the monsters or something. You know that feeling of fighting monsters for so long you don't even realise you're going the wrong way? Well, something told them that this was happening here.

Underling made to advance towards the Mascot, however she finally noticed the girls and Vent standing before it. Her face quickly drained of colour for a brief moment, before it became red with anger and frustration as she backpedalled to a safe distance. "Oh, what the hell?! How'd you idiots find this place?!" she yelled at them, quickly summoning her Pipe. She got ready and adoptive, cautious stance in case of any surprise attacks.

'Looks like she's learning, eh Master?'

'Yes, yes she is…'

While Vent and Rasen had dark smirks on their features, remembering how they had literally pulled a fast one on this girl when she tried to take a hostage, RED gave a booming laughter. She placed her hands on her hips and puffed her chest out in pride. "Ahahahaha!" she then raised an arm, and pointed dramatically towards the ASIC Operative. "We beat you here when we eavesdropped on you while you're on your phone!"

…

…

…

…

Underling stared at them, her eyes flat as well as her lips. She took a moment to process what the redhead said, and when she did, she could only muster one response. "Dude, that's really low…" She then shook her head, getting her composure back and reigniting her fiery hatred as she gave them a rage-filled glare. "Not very CPU-like at all, you know!"

"It's simply Karma, bitch." Vent responded bluntly, swiftly switching Vier to Scythe Mode. "You tried to take a child hostage before, so now we're paying you back. How does it feel to be used for a change? Oh wait," Vent would have continued, before a thought struck him as he looked at the fuming Underling. She could be considered a human tomato with how red with anger her face was. "You must be used to that, being an Underling and all."

The greenhead looked like she was close to strangling him at that moment, both for the mocking he did about her actions as well as the Underling Comment. He had literally pushed 2 buttons with her, and judging by the look on his face, he didn't seem to bothered by it. In fact, one could say he was glad to see Underling get a taste of her own medicine.

IF stepped forwards, glancing at the male. Seeing the indirect request, Vent nodded wordlessly to her, stepping back to RED's side. If she wanted to get a word in, who was he to stop her? "It's your fault for talking so loud on the phone." She retorted sharply, causing Underling to grimace. She remembered being so freaking excited when she got the message to go after the Mascot at last that she… may have been a little louder than usual. Plus, there was THAT as well. "Now that we're here, you won't touch the Mascot."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, missy!"

'Oh just great! She has some backup, after all!' Vent cursed mentally as he prepped Negatron for battle. Instincts screamed at him that this would be a tough one, and he was just about to learn how right they were going to be.

Before Underling could respond with her cannon talk of being prepared this time, Seidou suddenly jumped down from one of the tall cube structures, landing with a loud THUD. He then stood up, his insane grin plastered on his lipstick-covered lips. He directed his hungry/bloodlust-filled gaze across the Party, sending shivers up their spines.

Hell, even Underling looked stunned at the new arrival. "S-Sir Takizawa, what a pleasant-" she tried to say, however a quick, harsh glare aimed in her direction by the insane Ghoul quickly rendered her silent. She didn't want to end up like the poor sods in ASIC who were unlucky enough to come across this Ghoul when he was in one of his 'moods'. She felt that if she did, not even Tatara would spare her from his wrath. Not like he gave a damn about her anyways.

"Shut yer hole, ya dumb broad!" Seidou snarled at her, making Underling grimace as she backpedalled. Was this what it felt like when those other girls were called broads? She didn't get a chance to ponder this as Seidou continued. "They wouldn't have been here if your useless bitch ass hadn't blown your cover like you did!"

"S-S-Sorry sir! I'll do better sir!"

Just then, another chuckle echoed throughout the Dungeon. A deep, masculine chuckle, one that sounded like it came from all around them. The moment he heard it, Vent shuddered violently, feeling his Ghoul side rage and scream in primal battle lust. 'No, goddamnit, not him again!' he thought, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists so hard they bled. "Tch, girls get ready!" he called out to the others.

"Huh? Venny looks like he's really scared for some reason!" RED exclaimed in shock and surprise. She had only heard him shout like that several times, and those times the Party had faced situations that were well above her paygrade. If he was this freaked out, then…

Things just got worse, and Vent began to wonder if there was Goddess of luck. Because if there was, she sure as hell wasn't on their side. The sounds of footsteps, a bunch of them as well, could be heard behind them. The Party spun around to face the new arrivals, and much to Vent's horror they were facing off against a familiar blonde haired brutal Ghoul.

'G-Goddamnit, Yamori's here!' he thought horror filling him up inside. If things were bad before, with him here they practically became cornered rabbits in a den full of foxes. Part of him brought up the possibilities of the deaths that they could potentially die to, but he pushed that part down.

It wouldn't help in this situation.

"B-B-BOSS YAMORI?!" Underling stammered, her eyes trembling as she eyed the new arrivals with arguably equal dread and terror to Vent. He couldn't blame her, the bastard wasn't someone you wanted to catch in a bad mood, and usually those unlucky victims happened to be his allies more than his enemies.

Yamori glanced towards Underling out of the corner of his eye, and she did all she could to avoid peeing herself in fright. Out of all her bosses, this one scared her most of all. It wasn't enough that the man was a Ghoul, nor was it enough that he was brought back to existence by ASIC. Nope. Sometimes, she would be forced to watch as he tortures some poor sods that got the unlucky pleasure of being Yamori's next victim. Thus, she had seen plenty of brutal deaths in his torture room.

It sometimes made her want to just quit and vanish out of existence, never to be seen again.

"Ah, Mrs Underling. I heard you were given permission to utilise your Kagune at last. You should be attuned enough, they said. Congratulations, you're officially one of us now." Yamori complimented, his lips set in a small smirk. His kind eyes, both Underling and Vent could tell were hiding the sinister, sadistic glee that was his real personality.

"Th-Thank you, boss…"

After Underling's meek response, Yamori turned his head over to the Party. His eyes glanced over most of the girls, almost in a bored manner. However, once they reached onto Vent's guarded form, his fists held defensively as his eyes narrowed at him, the man let out a slightly larger smirk. The earlier kindness he displayed peeled away, revealing the glee that he had been hiding earlier for all to see. "Ahhhhhh, so it WAS worth coming to this colourful abomination after all." He spoke, his eyes gazing Vent up and down almost perversely.

It sent shudders down his spine. 'Now I know what Kaneki felt like when he encountered Yamori at Anteiku…'

"Now Underling."

Yamori turned to the green haired Hybrid, who snapped to attention and curb stomped her urge to speak. She didn't want to antagonize the man who tortured people for kicks, she'd been there during his last bit of 'fun' in his latest 'session'. Seriously, like said before, it was NOT pretty.

"Go destroy the Mascot, take my boys with you. It'll give you some experience in leadership." Underling nodded at his orders, almost bursting for joy had she not contained herself. The white suits were primarily soldiers that followed Yamori alone. They didn't care one bit about ASIC, the Mascots, none of that shit. They only cared about Yamori and followed him devotedly.

Moreover, with the way they each mirrored Yamori, from the uniform to the Hockey Masks, unnerved her.

"You got it, boss!" Underling yelled as she saluted her boss. She then turned to the white suits behind him, and did her best to put on a brave face. "Alright boys, let's go kill stuff!"

The white suits nodded in response, nothing verbal, as the group made their way to the Mascot. However, they couldn't get too far, because IF and the others, Nepgear having transformed into HDD, blocked their way by moving in front of it. "Sorry, we're not letting that happen!" the brown-haired woman declared.

"Good job guys!" Vent called to his comrades, having remained behind as he faced off against Yamori and Seidou. He cracked his fingers in anticipation, feeling his Ghoul side screeching with joy at its next victim. "I'll hold the ground here."


	34. Chapter 34 - We must Survive!

**Chapter 34 - We must survive!**

This was not what he had been expecting to do today.

Vent couldn't help but chuckle in a self-mocking fashion as he stood against both the gleeful Yamori, who was already hunched forwards, and a bored looking Seidou. He had always known in the back of his mind, ever since the last time he had forced the Jason Ghoul before, saving the alternate version of Hinami's father, that this fight would be inevitable.

Yamori never forgot a face, nor a scent. This had been proven when he had spent dozens of Manga chapters looking for Rize after she slighted him, settling for Kaneki when he found that he was a One Eyed from her scent. He would have memorised his scent from their last encounter, and wouldn't stop hounding him till he got his hands on him.

Whatever would happen after that would NOT be fun… for anyone but Yamori that is.

And Seidou, Seidou may look bored right now, but once he realises that Vent was trying to limit his Kagune usage as much as possible, then he would be on him just as much as Yamori would. That guy was certifiably insane at this point in time, and since Amon wasn't around to help him it would be up to Vent to protect his comrades from these two if it were the last thing he had done. He probably was just bored of all the exposition that the author was making to set up the tension in the scene.

His Vier in Sword Mode, Vent held himself in a defensive stance, pumping Negatron through his veins to enhance his body, giving it a faint aura of power. The winds lightly blew around him, gently gushing forth from his position to the enemy on the opposite side.

"Let's get this over with." Seidou finally spoke, groaning in annoyance as he stepped towards his opponent, Ukaku Kagune erupting from his shoulder while his Kakugan formed. "This'll be boring; idiot's trying to suppress his RC Cells."

'Shit, he noticed already?!' Vent cursed in his mind, while Rasen threw a temper tantrum in his head. Not exactly helping matters, but the male paid little attention to him. He was too frustrated to care. 'Look like I'm not as good at hiding it as I thought, I'll see if I can hold out long enough, but-'

His thoughts halted when he saw Seidou already at him, his Ukaku in blade form. Quickly he blocked it, gritting his teeth at the weight behind the blow. It was enough to make his feet dig into the ground, causing several centimetre deep craters on the ground. 'Tch, Not using RC Cells… so, this is the difference, huh?'

Using RC Cells for so long, Vent usually had less difficulty in handling Ghoul blows like the ones from Seidou. He could normally shrug them off and dish them just as much. However, thanks to the unpleasant news from Rasen with the fact that he was suppressing his RC Cells, he realised just how different it was to fight Ghouls without a sufficient RC Cell count. Was this what it was like for humans to fight Ghouls?

He could sorta understand the difference between humans and Ghouls, now.

Also, it made sense, in a way, that Seidou would notice something like that. As a Ghoul whose 'awakened' he would know how RC Cells behaved better than normal Ghouls. Plus he was once a Ghoul Investigator, so he had access to an advanced education in regards to RC Cells as well as their functions.

Finally, the two separated, Vent stumbling backwards a couple steps, but thanks to Negatron he managed to retain his balance. He gripped Vier and charged forth; swinging at Seidou's left shoulder once he got close enough. His attack was blocked when Seidou put his Kagune, now in its feathered wing form, around the space in front of him. Seidou then hardened his Kagune into crystal, alerting Vent as to what he planned to do next.

"I always liked being CLEAR AS CRYSTAL!"

With that cry, Seidou unleashed a barrage of Crystal Shards at close range, almost like a shotgun blast. Vent barely erected a Negatron Panel in time, however he had been blown back by the force as compensation for the attack's failure to impact on his body.

As he slid to a halt, jabbing Vier into the ground to halt himself, his instincts screamed at him to dodge. He glanced upwards to see one of Yamori's Tentacles coming down on him for an overhead impalement. He quickly raised Vier, revving it to max, which produced a constant stream of sparks from the chainsaw segment. He then brought it down on the Tentacle, resulting in a large shockwave upon their collision.

Instincts screamed at him once again, and Vent sensed a danger behind him. His eyes shrank to the size of pupils as he glanced behind him, noticing the maniacal smile on Seidou's face as he brought his Ukaku blade down on him.

'Shit!'

* * *

"VENT!" Nepgear called out in horror when she heard an explosion from near their position. She held her Gunblade in a read stance when she glanced in his direction, seeing nothing but smoke and dust where the three fighting Ghoulish beings were positioned.

She was then brought back to her own fight when she barely blocked Underling's pipe in time. "Heh, you're opponents over here, dimwit!" she yelled, laughing mockingly. She then dished out a scissor kick, which Nepgear hovered back to dodge while raising her Gunblade and firing several laser rounds. Using her Ghoul speed, Underling managed to dodge each one with ease. "Hah, now that I'm not restricted, you broads don't stand a chance!"

"Aw, shut it!"

IF had yelled that out as she blocked and parried the blows from a White suit Ghoul, 2 more of his buddies running in from both her left and right flank. She quickly ducked, dodging their punches before putting her hands on the ground and making a rising helicopter kick, tripping the three Ghouls over. Three loud THUD sounds accompanied the success of her offensive, electing a small smirk from the brunette.

However, that was not to last, for one of them managed to shield the back of his head with his right forearm at the last minute, keeping him from becoming dazed like his two buddies. He quickly reacted, reaching out and grabbing one of IF's legs before she could react, electing an "ah!" from her. Lifting her into the air, the Ghoul repeatedly smacked IF against the cube-built ground they stood on, a total of 10 times, before tossing her away.

On Compa's end, she stuck the closest to the Mascot, lending fire support when needed. The Ghouls had tough skin, so her shots didn't affect them as much as normal monsters would. This proved itself once again when she saw IF go down in the previous paragraph, her eyes widening in horror at the brutality shown by the Ghoul species. "Iffy!" she cried out, raising her Syringe to fire at the Ghoul. "Leave her alone, you big meanie!"

She unloaded a round into the Ghoul's back, sending him stumbling forwards, but not enough to completely stun him. The Nurse squeaked however, when she saw that his two brothers had gotten up and now were making a beeline straight for her, like two rugby players neck and neck for the rugby ball. No matter how many shots she unloaded on them, they didn't stop their advance, filling Compa's heart with a rising sense of fear and dread.

"Oi, quit harassing my Wifeys, busters!"

Fortunately, her saving grace came in the form of RED, who flying kicked one in the side of his head, knocking him over and into his buddy, sending the two into a crumpled heap onto the floor. Compa beamed at the redheaded wifey seeker as she gave her a thumbs-up. "Thanks a bunch RED! You saved me!"

The said girl grinned back, reciprocating the gesture as well. "Hehe! No problem, that's what RED the Wifey seeker is all about-OOF!"

Before she could continue, RED was beset when a Ghoul ran up behind her and grabbed her by the waist in his large hands. He hoisted her up into the air and prepared to give her a good old fashioned pile drive, indicated by how he had arched his legs. "Hey, lemme go, only my Wifeys can get this close! You're not on the wifey list!" she yelled, trying to get him to let her go by repeatedly kicking at his hockey mask.

Recovering from her recent attack, IF looked to RED and saw her situation. "Oi, you bastard!" she yelled, running up to him with the speed she was called the 'Windwalker of Gamindustri' for and launching a spinning roundhouse kick to the back of the head. "Let go of her!"

"Yay, you saved me Wifey Candidate!" RED shouted in joy as she was dropped by the Ghoul, who fell to the floor in a daze from her attack. While these Ghouls did have harder skin cells than normal humans, that didn't make them immune to blunt damage, it seemed. It wasn't a sure fire solution, but it was the best thing that those who were just normal humans had to offer against those fuckers.

"I'm NOT your Wifey Candidate, RED!"

"Not yet, but you'll soon accept it, my lovely, ehehehehe…!"

"… I'm already regretting saving you."

* * *

The smoke cleared, and Vent grimaced as his injuries healed over. His arm had almost been severed by the shoulder, a lot like how Seidou once damaged Tatara during the latter's final moments in the manga. Fortunately his Ghoul regeneration was fast and strong enough to reconnect his arm and repair the damage while his form had been concealed by the smoke.

'Tch, this is going to be way harder than I expected…' Vent couldn't help but admit to himself. That last strike had hurt like a bitch, but he'd managed to avoid a lethal blow at the last second. If he hadn't, his head would have been split open, and he didn't want to test if his regeneration could handle that.

In any other situation, Vent would have resorted to his Kagune, since fighting 2 high-rank Ghouls like Seidou and Yamori would require him to get serious. It was practically a means of survival at this point, since both Ghouls would not relent on their attacks. They will not hesitate to strike him down should he show any weakness, that was just how they were.

Yamori prayed on the weak, despising them. In his mind, might makes right, that was how he governed the white suits after all.

And in Seidou's case, he looked down on others in his deranged insanity, demeaning them when he finds it appropriate… which is almost every time they fail at doing something.

'Master, look out!'

'!?'

Like a siren's scream, Rasen's cry was loud enough to jolt Vent out of his thoughts, just in time to look up and see a thorny Tentacle about to impale him through his head and out his back. Fortunately for him, Vent managed to pivot to the side to dodge it, swinging Vier, which was in Sword Mode, across its side. The damage dealt wasn't major, but it did force the Tentacle to recoil back to its wielder's side. That wielder being a rather irked Yamori, who looked like Vent had smashed his favourite toy. "You'll pay for that one, kid!"

With that crazed yell, Yamori gave a loud war cry, breaking into a sprint towards him while his Kagune lashed out like dual bladed whips. Vent managed to block and parry most of the slashes, and when Yamori was close enough, the teen switched Vier to Scythe mode. He swung once horizontally from the right, and Yamori parried it, sending the other Tentacle to his stomach from below.

Vent responded by stabbing the rear tip into the Tentacle's tip, using it to hoist himself into the air and launch a straight flying kick into Yamori's face. Said Ghoul managed to block in tme with the first Tentacle though, wrapping it around his leg by the ankle. "Heh, time for some whack-a-mole!" he bellowed, laughing evilly as he raised Vent to the air. He than proceeded to smack him into the ground repeatedly, the style looking eerily reminiscent to the referenced arcade game.

WHACK!

WHACK!

WHACK!

WHACK!

WHACK!

WHACK!

WHACK!

WHACK!

WHACK!

WHACK!

WHACK!

WHACK!

WHACK!

WHACK!

Eventually, Vent managed to switch Vier to Sword Mode, pumping Negatron through it so he could stab it into the ground to keep him rooted in place. Yamori's eyes widened as he grunted, trying to pull him up into the air to continue his little 'game'.

Shame he couldn't succeed as Vent pumped his body with as much Negatron as possible, using immense physical strength and, with a mighty roar of exertion, Vent managed to flip his body into a forward arc, pulling Yamori into the air and down to the ground with a massive WHAM! It caused a large explosion of dust and debris to form, breaking the colourful ground below.

Using Vier, Vent slashed himself free of Yamori's Kagune, forcing it to retract to him as he spun around, not getting a chance to breathe thanks to Seidou using his Ukaku in Blade form to strike. The two weapons remained in a deadlock, grinding away against each other thanks to their wielders, who were staring each other down with looks that could kill. "Heh, even without your Kagune, you're still putting up a fight!" Seidou boomed. The previous boredom on his face had long since been replaced by his previous psychotic glee.

"tch! Glad-URGh- you are… having… fun!" Vent shouted back, exerting effort into pushing Seidou back before switching Vier to Gun mode and launching a single Meteor round towards him. Seidou morphed his Ukaku into its Tentacles form to sack the ground below him, propelling him into the air above the round. He then launched the Tentacles down towards Vent's position, who managed to roll out the way.

Sadly, Vent had to duck under a Tentacle swing, this one coming from Yamori as he charged into the scene, shoulder tackling him and sending Vent flying. He crashed onto the ground, landing on all fours after repeatedly bouncing along it. Glancing upwards, Vent glared heatedly at the two Ghouls, his fury rising through his system. 'Goddamnit… fighting these two is way tougher than I expected.'

"Hey, what Are you doing?! Shit head, that guy's mine!"

"Shut up, half breed, don't think you can shout at me, and get away with it!"

Though, he had to sweat drop when he saw the two Ghouls arguing about that recent attack. 'Well, guess their teamwork could use some… okay, a LOT of work. Though, it could make sense, given their dominating personalities… they're bound to clash. It's a surprise they lasted this long without arguing.'

Well, he wasn't about to use this to his advantage, note the sarcasm there. Vent slowly got to his feet, groaning as he readied his Vier once more for battle. Things weren't looking good for him, and in his opinion, this would only get harder as time went on. 'I don't know if I can take them both out at once, then there's the Mascot to consider…' he thought, growling.

'… We're boned.'

'… I have little energy left to spare on you, right now.'

* * *

"This is getting kind of sad!" Underling bellowed with a laugh, jumping at a downed Nepgear who was on one knee. She swung 2 Tentacles at her head, but the CPU Candidate managed to avoid them by ducking. She then took to the skies, blasting several laser rounds at her direction. Underling however, swiftly deflected each round by flicking her Kagune outwards, nullifying her attacks.

'This isn't… this isn't good! Ngh!' Nepgear gritted her teeth in concentration, barely avoiding a vertical Tentacle slash. Underling then cried out as she smacked her Kagune onto the ground to propel her after the CPU Candidate, swinging at her rapidly with both her Pipe and her Tentacles. This battle had been going in Underling's favour the moment she had resorted to combining her Pipe and Kagune together to form vicious chained combos. At the rate they were going, they were sure to lose this fight. That couldn't be allowed to happen, it just couldn't! 'I have to find an opening!'

Nepgear swiftly raised her Gunblade to block a Pipe strike to her head, before ducking under a Tentacle whip. She strafed to the sides, avoiding 2 more that tried impaling her from overhead, before aiming her Gunblade with the hope of blasting Underling in the face.

Shame that she was too late.

"Got you, bitch!"

Just as Underling bellowed that, a Tentacle strike slammed into her in the face, making Nepgear cry out as she was sent crashing into the ground with a large smoke cloud covering her form. Her lone Kakugan eye widened in absolute glee as Underling laughed madly, launching a series of strikes against her enemy with her Kagune. It constantly slammed down on her position, a yelp accompanying each strike to let her know she was hitting her mark.

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

By the time the dust cloud finally faded away, Nepgear was revealed to have been indented into the ground, swirl marks replacing her eyes. Her form had been beaten, bruises occupying and cut in several places, blood falling from those cuts.

"GEAR/NEPGEAR/WIFEY!"

Her friends called out to her from their positions, which gave their opponents the openings they needed. IF cried out when a Ghoul slammed into her, knocking her down to the ground. She tried to get up, but she was pinned down by a bunch of White Suits, holding down her arms and legs in special locks. She growled and snarled while attempting to break free, but to no avail. "Hey! You guys get your hands off me!" IF exclaimed, though she received no answer.

"Iffy!" their resident Nurse called out in alarm, seeing her current predicament with an expression of horror and dread. Images assaulted her mind about what could possibly happen next, something she had to prevent quickly! "Don't worry, I'm coming!" Compa tried to assist, but one of the White Suits managed to grab her from behind and restrained her, holding her up in the air while forcing her to drop her Syringe. "Hey, you meanies! Lemme go, lemme go, lemme-"

She never got a chance to finish as one of the White Suits went up to her and delivered a Ghoul enhanced Punch to the abdomen, knocking the wind out of her as Compa gasped, saliva being spat from her lips. She could hardly breathe from that hit, black dots dancing across her vision as she slowly began to lose consciousness. 'N…Noooo…' That was her last thought before unconsciousness claimed her, Compa's form slouching in the White Suit's arms.

"Um, this looks bad! Like, really bad, Venny!" RED exclaimed as she and Vent jumped backwards, landing before the Mascot. The remaining White Suits slowly advanced towards them, hunger and gluttonous growls escaping their lips while Seidou and Yamori hung back. For what reason that was, neither of them knew, but hey they weren't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. "This looks bad, doesn't it?!"

Vent growled, nodding in confirmation of RED's worries as the two faced off against the approaching Ghouls. Things were definitely looking worse for them. Things looked like they had fallen into the enemy's favour, they were now outnumbered, out gunned, and the only members of their Party that could still fight were both him and the redhead.

'Hey, when you refer to RED as a redhead, do you realise you're unintentionally making a Pun?'

'Rasen, so help me I do NOT need any smartass comments from you right now!

'Oh, I know! I was just trying to lighten the mood!' Rasen cheerfully chirped, not caring about the rush of annoyance that Vent sent his way. 'Anyways, looks like we don't have much of an option here, master! We have to use our Kagune.'

No matter how much he tried to deny it, Vent knew Rasen was right. The Kagune was his best bet to escape this situation with his comrades lives intact. He had been glad that they hadn't decided to cannibalise them right then and there while they were out, but how long would that last? He couldn't take the chance, although even in this situation, Vent hesitated on releasing his Kagune.

'Goddamnit, Vent!' the teen cursed himself. 'This is no time for you to be a wuss! You gotta use your Kagune for your comrades! Since when the fuck did you allow your fears to blind you to what's really important?! You don't want them to end up like HER, do you?!' in Vent's mind's eye, a vague silhouette appeared within a white void inside his mind. The Silhouette stood there motionless for a short moment, before everything was turned red, with the sound of splattering filling his consciousness.

A man's maniacal, mocking laughter echoed through his mind, before going silent.

"Looks like you lost, you broads!" Underling bellowed, smirking victoriously while her Kagune flicked about behind her, reflecting how excited she was. "Finally, the bad guys have won! We should win more often! Now, hand over the Mascot or die!" she yelled, though mentally she hoped he would refuse as to give her an opening to pound his arrogant face in.

She wasn't disappointed.

Vent shook his head vehemently, while RED aimed a furious glare at the Ghoul horde. "Hell to the no! I'm not letting you have the Mascot, even if the last of my blood is burnt to gas! I'd rather die than give you what you wanted, Underling!" he yelled back, grinning as he insulted her with the Party consensus nickname.

Yea, insulting the enemy when they both outnumbered, and outgunned him, plus with his mental restrictions on his Kagune, MAYBE wasn't one of his brighter ideas. But maybe

That seemed to piss the woman off, wiping the smirk off her face and replacing it with a dark glare. "Ugh, stop calling me that!" she yelled, shaking a fist towards him. "Well then, I'll gladly be enjoying pounding you into a pulp! Let's go, guys-!"

"ICE COFFIN!"

Along with a slightly distant war cry, A huge blue ice glacier suddenly rose from below, knocking Underling, who couldn't dodge in time, into the air while her 'lackeys' managed to escape the attack radius in time. All of them eyed their temporary leader while she fell to the ground with a THUD, her Rinkaku managing to encroach itself below her to soften the fall.

Yamori raised a brow at this development, not showing much interest since he heard the voice, disconcerting it to be female. Not like he liked girls much anyways, the broke too easily for his tastes. Especially that one woman other he tortured that time in front of that white haired one-eyed.

Seidou dropped his jaw at the sight, his eyes almost bugging out of their sockets. "Huh? What the heck is with this superhero bullshit?! Cliché! I call cliché alert here!" he then turned to the 'grunts' as he called the white suits, his eyes furious and insane. "Wo was it?, huh? Which one of you fucktards triggered the cliché superhero last minute save, tag, huh?!"

None of them answered, mostly because they were too busy wondering who the hell it was themselves.

On their ends, Vent and RED's eyes almost flew out their sockets when they saw the glacier literally go 'surprise, bitch!' and wallop Underling in the face. "Oh-oh-oh!" RED blinked before bouncing up and down on the spot. It almost made the male doubt her sanity for a moment, as she pointed towards the Glacier with shining eyes full of recognition. "I know that I know that! It's from those two!" she exclaimed in joy and relief, much to Vent's now new dominant emotion: confusion.

"Those two?"

"She means us, dummy!"

"Hello…"

The sound of two childish voices, due to how high and soft their pitches were, drew his, and everyone else's attention to the entrance to the Mascot's location. Floating in their HDD forms, were Rom and Ram, both of them having joined their staffs together and had them pointed in their direction. Both of them had different expressions on their features: Ram looked annoyed, especially when her eyes fell onto the downed Nepgear's form, but they soon shifted to excitement and-was that worry he saw in her eyes?- when she looked over in his direction.

Rom however, was looking at the rest of the people here, the ones that were down more so, with a look of intense worry and nervousness. She shuddered in discomfort at the sight, something that made the One-Eyed Ghoul tee cringe with sympathy. He figured a young kid like her wouldn't be used to seeing such a scene before, since monsters, considering that could be the only thing they'd have experience fighting against, would just vanish when they were defeated.

Ghouls didn't, thus from some of their injuries blood could be seen in some areas.

"And who the hell are you, brats?!" Seidou shouted as he whirled around to face them, his Ukaku switching to Blade mode as he pointed it threateningly at them. "Go ahead and scram to your mommy's, she'll likely wanna change your diapers!" he sneered, a mocking smirk on his features, mixed with his previous anger.

"Hey Vent, you alright?! We came to save you and that weak girl, Nepgear!"

"We came to help…"

Both Candidates completely ignored the angry remark that the Ghoul gave, both before and after his statement to their arrival. They focused their attention on Vent, who kneeled on one leg with his breathing heavy. "Yea… we're just… peachy…" he spoke between pants. Honestly, while he was a bit miffed that it wasn't something more helpful like a platoon of armed soldiers, a part of him argued that Rom and Ram's Magic abilities would counter the dense Ghoul Skin going for their enemies at the moment.

When the Ghouls made to try and attack the Candidates, the two put the tips of their Staffs together and a magic barrier, coloured blue with various power button symbols over it, formed between them, halting the Ghouls' progress. Angry roars and snarls escaped their mouths as they each manifested their Kagune, a mix between Koukaku and Bikaku for the common grunts, while Yamori hammered away with his Rinkaku and Seidou stuck to his Ukaku.

Nevertheless, the barrier held strong, but for how long was anyone's guess

While that happened, Rom and Ram floated over to their side, their HDD forms excluding a warm glow from them that signified their status as CPU Candidates. "Well, I think some gratitude for you two is in order. Honestly, we're in a pretty tight spot, as you can see." He replied with a weak smirk, gesturing to his beaten, battered party.

At the sight of them with such injuries, Rom quickly hovered over to them and raised her staff, activating one of her Skills if the way her glow seemed to intensify briefly was any indication. "Here, I'll heal you all, right now."

A bright light shone over his comrades, and Vent would happily admit that he almost gave in to his urge to hug the little one when he saw how his comrades were being healed. If he would have used his Kagune, then Vent could have healed them himself, but he'd made the choice of only using it when necessary. Like Rasen said, he'd made his choice, now he had to deal with the consequences.

Once their wounds had completely healed, the girls began to awaken, starting with IF as she stirred with a discontent groan escaping her lips. "Ugh… that's not something I wanna live through again…" she muttered in a pained grimace as she slowly got to her feet. When she finally felt her headache begin to fade with the last of Rom's magic, she looked and noticed the twin candidates, electing a surprised expression from her. "Wait, you guys…?"

"Oooooh, my head hurts…" Compa moaned as she became the next to get up. She stumbled slightly from getting up too fast, but Vent managed to catch her just in time. "Thanks Ven-Ven…" she muttered with a beaming smile, getting the male to smile sheepishly towards her. She also soon noticed that they had two new additions to the party, and her eyes comically flew open at the sight of them. "EHHHHHHHH?!" She exclaimed, making Rom jump and hide behind her sister. "What-when-why-what are the CPU Candidates for Lowee doing here?"

Ram glared at Compa as she comforted her blue haired twin, making the Nurse wilt slightly. "Hey! Don't be mean to the ones that saved your butts just now!" she stated hotly, wincing at the hits that the barrier was taking.

Vent's eyes narrowed at the barrier as Nepgear woke up, did the same thing as Compa did and got scolded from it, much to IF's irritation as she cupped her forehead with her other hand on her hip. "We're grateful for the help, really we are." He began, before gesturing to the barrier. It had already taken so many lashes from the Ghouls' Kagunes. It had already begun showing cracks throughout its form, the cracks getting bigger and bigger with every strike. "But unless you have any other bright ideas, we kinda are in a bit of a bind since your barrier won't last."

"We can just hit them till they die, like any other Abnormal!"

"No Ram… that won't work…"

At first, Ram had been all for kicking their buts from here to kingdom come, but thanks to her more logical sister Rom, she was eventually pacified. Though, she did wish to try fighting a Ghoul one day, maybe one of those white wearing guys, or maybe that black one with a blade for a shoulder. He looked quite cool, bashing away at the Barrier like he was.

Just then, an Idea crossed onto Vent's mind, his eyes widening as a metaphoric lightbulb was lit up in her head. "Oh, an idea!" he exclaimed. But, instead of talking to the girls about it, Vent twirled to the Mascot, which floated up and down while he got the feeling it was looking at him. "Hey Mascot, whatever it is will take time to be fully unsealed if you were gone, right?"

"… Yes, it will take time for the sealed to regain their full power. Why do-?"

"No time, I promise you can scold me later, but trust me this is what we need to do! Rom, Ram, do you have any Eject Buttons?"

Both twins nodded, brandishing 2 remotes with big red buttons on them. Vent grinned, excitement in his eyes as he quickly pulled out one of his own. Everyone else, getting an idea of what he had in mind, quickly did the same as Vent reached out and forcefully tugged the Mascot free from its seal, much to its shock. It tried to shout something, but Vent had already pressed his Eject button along with the rest of the Party.

In a bright flash of light, everyone vanished from the Dungeon, away from the seal, the Ghouls, and the barrier just when it came down. Underling's roar of frustration could be heard for miles.


	35. Chapter 35 - What now?

**Chapter 35 - What now?**

Things had gotten WAY out of hand back there.

That was the group consensus as they returned to the main City, having barely escaped death by the hands of the Ghouls. They had been able to escape with their lives intact thanks to Vent's quick thinking, although it was a close one. They almost wound up their meals, something that Vent had explained to them when they appeared down at the Dungeon's base. Apparently, the Eject Button they each took only took them outside the Dungeon, not all the way to a city like Vent had hoped. That had started their long trek towards civilization… after Compa used some of her healing Skills on them.

Fortunately, lady luck seemed to smile on them, as the Party had managed to take the Mascot with them, saving it from destruction. Like Vent assumed already, it did NOT appreciate being taken from its seal, going on about how he would have doomed the entirety of Lowee to a fate that nobody should deserve. It kept going on about how, now that it was unable to maintain the seal, Gamindustri would face a nightmare that should never have returned.

Vent's response?

"Hey, enough of the doom and gloom talk! You're still alive, right? If we hadn't taken you, those guys would have destroyed you and the seal along with you! Either way, that 'nightmare' you were talking about was going to happen! But, you're still here, and that means we still have some hope, got it?!"

Yeah… Vent had been pretty pissed at the Mascot for not noticing what he had been intending. It had been convinced how they would take it by force on their journey, much to Nepgear's dismay, and he had been getting sick of it. After his little outburst though, it had shut itself up for the remainder of the journey.

* * *

Finally, the Party returned to the main city, opting to take a rest in one of the nearby parks. They sat on two benches, parallel to each other with Vent, IF and Nepgear on one side, and RED, Compa, Rom and Ram on the other side. The two twins had returned to their human forms, but it looked pretty darn apparent that they were exhausted.

"Maaaaan, I'm beat. I need to go lie down forever…!"

"I'm tired…"

They were also pretty vocal about it, much to the rest of the party's ire. They had been like this since they began their journey, however none of them could blame the twins for their lack of stamina. Fighting like back there was something that required high amounts of stamina, stamina that came from fighting in high pace, action oriented battles that contain high death risks. Children like them weren't built for combat like that, plus it didn't help that their specialties lay in ranged magical abilities. Abilities that could damage Ghouls, if they even hit them. They were quite speedy, plus they could take a hit.

IF gave a groan of annoyance, glancing towards the direction of the Dungeon they had come back from, her eyes shining with irritation. "That battle, we barely made it out alive…" she muttered, pursing her lips. She didn't want to admit it, but she felt that if Rom and Ram hadn't come in and saved their hides, they'd most likely be dead right now. "Those Ghouls sure know how to hit hard…"

"Owwie…" Compa moaned in a pained voice as she clutched her shoulder, wincing at the roar of pain that followed suit from the contact. She could still feel one of the injuries she'd received there. The hit to her gut had healed, but the one in her shoulder still persisted even with her healing magic. "I feel so sore…"

Their resident redhead pouted in anger as she flailed her arms up and down. "Man, what gives?! Those guys are real meanies! They don't know a shred of how to treat a lady right!" She whined, her cheeks all puffy from how angry she was. Just thinking of how those Ghouls treated her wifeys just grinded her gears like no tomorrow. "When I get my hands on them next time, I'll give em the old what-for!" she proclaimed, mimicking some shadowboxing moves.

It earned a few chuckles, albeit some were pained while others were tired, from the rest of the team.

"RED's eccentrics aside…" Nepgear began once the chuckling died down, and a solemn atmosphere took over the Party. Her face looked concerned as she held a hand over her chest, glancing down at the Lowee Mascot. The floating being was just above her lap, yet she also got the feeling that something was sitting on it. It was a… unique experience, alright. "We may have lost the battle, but we did at least get a small victory in saving the Mascot."

Vent nodded his head in agreement, a sigh escaping his lips. "Honestly, it was a hasty decision, split-second and all that. We may have broke the seal, but we at least managed to stop them from destroying the Mascot. Now, we have a chance to make things right." He remarked. "Since we know that whatever's in that seal will take time to be fully released, we have the time to come up with a plan for a counterattack." He reasoned further, holding a hand up with a single index finger raised.

That they could agree with, and at this point even the Lowee Mascot had to admit that, now that she saw things first hand, that this was a wiser move than it had expected. "I must admit… that destruction of both myself and the seal would be much more disastrous. However, we must make haste to the Basilicom so that I can inform the current Oracle of what has happened, as well as the danger that approaches Lowee."

"By the way, what WAS sealed away in that Dungeon, Mrs Mascot?"

Upon hearing Compa's curious question, the Lowee Mascot mentally debated on whether or not it should reveal this classified information. On one hand, it had to uphold the mission that was entrusted to her by both CPUs of Lowee and Planeptune. On the other hand, things had become dire in the ways that were most feared. In the end, it decided on an alternative choice that suited as a compromise for both parties. "I cannot say much, but the Seal was holding back a large army, an army of robots called 'Killachines' which have power beyond reckoning. They caused great hardship in the past, thus they were sealed away for the sake of everyone's safety. For more information, consult the Oracle."

IF rolled her eyes in annoyance, this time towards the lack of info that the Mascot gave them. "Honestly, sticking to secrecy at a time like this…" she remarked under her breath, but she soon dismissed her opinions to the back of her mind for the time being. There were more important matters to deal with right now. "But I guess you have a point. At least now, we have a legit reason to have Mina tell us about what happened."

Vent nodded his head in agreement. "True…"

Nepgear then piped up, throwing a hand into the air and speaking with as much confidence as she cold at the moment. "Alright then, lets go to Mina and tell her what happened. We haven't got any time to waste, so lets get going!"

"Right!"

* * *

"Good afternoon ladies, what can I-oh?" Mina, as soon as she heard the door to the Basilicom, greeted the Party when they entered. She had been beginning to greet them again, when she noticed several things: their ruffled up appearances, slight defeat in their expressions, Rom and Ram with them, and most important of all the Lowee Mascot in Nepgear's arms. Her eyes hardened and a frown escaped onto her lips. "Judging by what I see, I guess something bad happened with the seal?"

Nepgear nodded her head solemnly, her eyes dancing with emotion as she clutched the Mascot closer to her chest. Because of the way it looked, the Lowee Mascot didn't seem to mind the action, or show any sign of discomfort. "Yes, you see…"

She soon explained the previous events, leaving no detail. Vent sometimes pitched in to explain bits only he would have experience in telling, before the tale was done. Mina had been silent the entire time, listening to the two with her attention span at 1000%. That was the standard for an Oracle such as herself. That was also why so few managed to get themselves into this position, as every 10,000 applicants for the position, ranging from common citizens to professional politicians, only 3 were selected and then tested further to guarantee 1 probable choice.

When they finished explaining the situation, Mina's face turned grave, Nepgear letting out the Lowee Mascot so it now floated off to the side. "I see… the situation must be appallingly bad then." She muttered, before focusing on Vent. "I thank you, Vent. While it did raise this situation to its current severity, you made the right call to save the Mascot before it could be destroyed. If it were destroyed, then the situation would be increasingly dire, to the point of non-salvageable."

"I had a feeling it was like that." Vent replied, shrugging his shoulders. He briefly glanced to the Mascot when he spoke next. "I had a feeling that, if we could save the Mascot at the least, then we'd be getting a victory in of itself. While the seal may be undone, I doubt that it's a quick process either, the seal array looked quite complex, indicating that some level of thought was put into what would happen should the Mascot ever be separated from the Seal." He then shifted his gaze towards Mina as he finished up his explanation. "You, as the Oracle, a political figure whose authority is just under the CPUs, should have been informed of this information, as well as the means to plan a necessary counter attack."

When they had first found the Mascot, Vent had made sure to give the seal array on the ground a good look-over, making himself look like he was listening to their conversation while he was doing both that and looking up the array, thinking on how it worked. Multitasking for the win, motherfuckers! Rasen had made more notes about it than Vent did though, which he had shared with him while they returned to the main city.

RED beamed at the male as she patted him on the back, rather hard for a normal person, but as a One-Eyed Ghoul Vent had been able to handle it. "Wow, you go dude! You keep this up and I'll have to find out how to turn you into a girl so I can make you my wifey!" she cheerfully exclaimed, getting a deadpan expression from the teen.

"No."

While RED pouted at his blunt refusal, Compa showed equal amazement at how Vent had gotten that information just from a lookover. "Wow, Ven-Ven, RED's right, that was good." She remarked, getting a sheepish chuckle from the teen.

"Well, while mister detective over here was doing that…" IF drawled, equally impressed but wanting to get things moving along again, as she turned to face Lowee's Oracle. At this point, the Mascot for this Nation had floated over to the blue haired woman's side, bobbing up and down constantly while it radiated this blue, smokey aura around it. "Could you two let us know what we're dealing with? At this point, I doubt secrecy will be of much use here."

At this, both Mina and the Mascot shared a glance, a glance that seemed much longer than it really was. A variety of expressions danced across the woman's features as if they were having a silent conversation, before she gave a resigned sigh and turned back to them. "Very well. It seems that the situation has reached acceptable parameters for this to be revealed. The thing that was sealed away, was called a Killachine. Its an ancient construct created when the Deity first began to conquer the world so long ago. Its power… well, it was enough to warrant them being sealed instead of being thrown away." Mina explained to them all. "Also, there are more than one of them, hundreds are sealed away all across Lowee."

"Hundreds? Oh, gimme a break."

"This measure was attempted when the Deity of sin tried to crush Lowee in one swift blow." The Lowee Mascot interjected, bobbing towards them in a manner eerily similar to taking a step forwards. "She created these in an attempt to wipe away an entire nation overnight, blocking any and all escape routes. It was a desperate action, which had a 0.0001% chance of succeeding… but by luck, it did."

 **'#cough# blame it on plot convenience #cough#'**

'Hush, you.'

 **'hahahahaha! NEVER!'**

Ram scoffed as she and her twin did a pose together. "Pssh! Numbers are stupid. Just say the word and Me and Rom will blow em all away." The pink-wearing girl boasted with an equally boastful grin.

Rom made an explosion gesture, which looked absolutely adorable in their eyes. "Ka boom…"

Vent rolled his eyes at the two girls' innocent yet determined statements. They were kids, but in their minds the solution seemed simple enough. Blow the Killachines up and then everything would be a-okay. "Not so sure that would work that way, girls…" he remarked, getting a betrayed look from Ram.

"Hey, you're supposed to be on my side, meanie!"

"Now, now…" Compa began, raising her hands in a placating gesture as she stepped towards the ensuing chaos before Ram could explode. Rom even had teary eyes at this point, that was how close it came to a fight that would have blown up the Basilicom. "Ven-Ven's right, I don't think its as simple as blowing things up."

Mina nodded her head at their statements. "Both of you are correct, there are simply too many Killachines to destroy. It is both impractical and unrealistic. Simply sealing them is the best option. But…"

"With how the Seal was undone by the lack of a Mascot, all those Killachines will soon reawaken…"

Nepgear said this with a worried expression on her face. Her tone reflected as such, although Mina spoke in a manner that placated her, somewhat. "At least we can take solace in one fact, and that is that ASIC is not one to take hasty action. It will take time for the seal to be completely undone, because of how long the Mascot has been powering it. Power has been accumulating it ever since it was first made, which will keep the Seal going for a fair amount of time."

"Indeed." The Lowee Mascot interjected. " I suspect we have about… 6 days before the seal is completely powerless and begins to unload the Killachines."

RED then raised a hand, like a student raising a hand to answer a question asked by the teacher. "Um, so, what shall we do again? Explain it simply, so we can understand." She questioned the others with a confused face.

Vent looked over at her, then at the others before he spoke himself. "I'd say we train." He stated, getting looks from the others. Looks of confusion, mostly, but the Mascot radiated something else, something that he couldn't identify as of right now. He didn't pay this much attention though for there was more important matters to deal with. "We all need to rest first, so returning to our Hotel would be advisable. Then, we spend five days training ourselves so that, when we fight the Killachines we will be able to last longer. Honestly, aside from Nepgear whose been delving into some techniques of her own, everyone else has been sorely lacking in the training department."

"Hey, that's mean mister wifey!"

"I'm a Nurse, so training is…"

"Well… I can't argue with you there…"

RED, Compa and IF responded, in that order. Understandably, RED didn't like how blunt the One-Eyed Ghoul stated their apparent weakness. The said teen rounded on the red haired girl, his eyes shining with incredulity. "RED, you need to train the most out of all of us, remember how Seidou completely wiped the floor with you?" A flinch came from the redhead, answering his question for him. Satisfied that she was getting it, Vent continued. "You'll want to train hard, so you don't get knocked out so early in the battle. Most of your encounters with the Ghouls afterwards were better because you had people covering for you. That won't be enough, not with the White Suits. They're made up of Ghouls who were born and built on the battlefield. They would snap your neck like a twig and bake you over a bonfire, with the way you are right now."

A brief flash of KI erupted from Mina, making him pause his explanation to give her a raised brow. "Please, make a note to refrain from using such language in front of the kids." She said with a sickly sweet smile… and a shadow that darkened her eyes as she gestured to Rom and Ram, who looked more than a little pale.

Now, if he were under normal circumstances, then Vent would have paled under Mina's remark/order. However, the situation right now warranted him to put those feelings aside for the time being. The Ghouls were a threat, a big one that the Party would HAVE to prepare for, and that included Rom and Ram. Thus, they would have to be informed of the danger in its entirety. It would be considered a sin otherwise, plus like it or not they were CPU Candidates. The Ghouls would go after them based off that fact alone, and none in their Guard would be able to protect them from Ghoul attack. They would just be snacks to the Buffet.

 **'I know we'll be painted in a slightly darker light for this, but Master Lets show her a bit of what KI from THAT is like.'**

'Not sure that's a good idea, Rasen…'

 **'Probably not, but hey since when has a woman scared you more than the thought of Ghouls snacking on kids like they were snackbars?'**

'… Good point.'

Closing his eyes, Vent took a deep breath as he reached deep down within himself. He reached towards the thing, that unborn power still in its developing stages… and promptly gave it a shove. The result? A short KI spike, a spike that erupted from his very being and covered the entire room.

EVERYONE flinched at the KI that erupted from Vent's being at that moment. For that one moment, they all felt like they had been in the presence of a thousand hardcore monsters that were comparable to final bosses, all of them eager to rip into their guts and have them as decorations.

Opening his eyes, Mina flinched harder when she saw the Kakugan emerge in Vent's left eye. "Apologies Mina, but I am stating the situation as it is. Your guards won't be able to protect them from the Ghouls should they come for them. And they will, just from the fact they are CPU Candidates ALONE. Rom and Ram may have saved us, and I am beyond grateful to them for that. Bet you everyone here is. On the other hand, they've literally marked themselves for hunting season in their eyes. Why, I'll not be surprised if they get attacked in the middle of the night."

"Vent!"

All the girls yelled out at him, save for IF who just signed in resignation. Rom and Ram looked like they were having a living nightmare, trembling violently while they had tears in the corners of their eyes. The guy just didn't get it, but it wasn't like it was his fault either. She would have been like the rest of them, had she not had that confrontation with Vent after their first meeting with the Lowee Candidates, as well as knew the things she did about him. The brunette doubted that he'd told them about his vigilante background. Vent was someone who didn't see things the way the rest of them did, having seem some fucked up shit he didn't want to disclose. He didn't need to though, she could tell from his eyes.

"While I question his way of phrasing it…" The Lowee Mascot began, getting their attention away from the male. Said male mentally thanked it, as he did NOT like the attention he got just then. "I cannot help but agree with what he is trying to say. Despite their young appearance, young Mrs Rom and Mrs Ram are CPU Candidates. I looked at those 'Ghouls' as you call them, and I can tell they wouldn't hesitate in doing what you're implying."

Leave it to the non-human beings to agree with each other on a perspective that was more scarring on a child's mind. It wasn't like they were intentionally trying to scare them, but they had to face the cold harsh reality of the situation. They had gotten involved with something without thinking of the consequences. This was just one of those consequences. Perhaps it was because of their backgrounds, but both of them lacked the usual empathy that the others had. Even Mina.

"I… I'm not scared!" Ram stated boldly, despite shaking like a leaf. She put in a brave face right now, forcing herself to regain her composure. At least, if not for herself then for her sister's sake. Something that Vent noticed. "If-If they do decide to come knocking, I'll just blow em all away too! Right Rom?"

"R-Right…"

Despite the fear in her voice, Rom had taken one look to her sister, then at Nepgear and finally Vent, before gulping and nodding resolutely. Mina's heart broke from their expressions, they were of those who had become aware of just how much trouble they had gotten themselves into, only it was a thousand times worse. This wasn't what she wanted for the kids, they were young after all. They shouldn't have to deal with this stuff, this was more for their older sister to deal with. Yet, with their sister gone, and this was her inner Oracle talking here, the twins would have to step up to take her place for the time being.

That thought hurt worst of all.

"Well… we'll come back tomorrow, alright Mina?" IF interjected, breaking the woman from her thoughts as she looked up towards the Guild Agent. "As Vent said, we need to train, and better yet prepare our gear, cause I get the feeling that this next figh'll be the hardest one yet for us."

Nodding her head, Mina reluctantly agreed with the brunette. The Ghouls seemed like just as big a threat as the Killachine, so they had to make sure they were ready. Didn't mean she had to like it though. "Understood. Please be careful. Rom, Ram, please head on to your rooms, you all have a busy few days ahead of you."

* * *

The following night, Vent was prepping to head to bed, already dressed in his shirtless nightwear while he was also conversing with Rasen. 'Hey Rasen… do you think the girls will stay mad at us?' he questioned his tenant. Ever since the moment he nearly scarred Rom and Ram for life back in the Basilicom, the girls hadn't been talking to him, giving him the silent treatment. Even RED hadn't tried to make any jokes about wifeys or anything related to it. He figured that it was to do with the twins, honestly, but he couldn't understand why.

Despite being a vigilante that protected the innocent from the claws of the guilty, it didn't mean that he understood how people worked. That was not something that could be expected from them, as by definition a Vigilante was a member of a self-appointed group of citizens who undertake law enforcement in their community without legal authority, typically because the legal agencies are thought to be inadequate. In essence, they stand up for the law in place of unhelpful police who do nothing but sit and eat doughnuts every day of their empty, boring lives.

A vigilante's life though, is radically different compared to that of a normal civilian's, though. If he were to make a comparison using otaku knowledge, then one Anime came to mind that fit this bill, possibly more so than comics like Kick Ass or the Marvel/DC Comics: Code Breaker. On , its synopsis was as follows: Riding the bus one day, Sakurakouji Sakura looks out the window to see people being burned alive with a blue fire and a boy her age who's unharmed and standing over the people.

She comes back to the site the next day and there are no corpses or evidence of any kind of murder, just a small fire. She then goes to class to find there's a new transfer student, Oogami Rei, who looks exactly like the boy she saw before and wears a black glove only on his left hand.

Oogami is a Code Breaker, one who "does not exist". He is a seemingly cold-blooded killer who follows the principle of "an eye for an eye", to "use evil against evil". Convinced that killing is not right, Sakurakouji sets out to stop him and penetrate his icy heart.

Oogami was a perfect example of a vigilante, because aside from him working with an organisation that eradicated evil, he was a cold, ruthless person who had seen much of the lowest things humanity had to offer. That had changed him, made him someone who chose to fight evil with an 'evil' of his own. In all honesty, Vent could see himself in him, both of them knew what needed to be done, and had no qualms about doing it. The one difference between them was that while he had more of a social side to him, born from the lack of ability to have one. Desired, yet unable to achieve due to his job.

Yet, in this world, his vigilante ways will likely alienate him from his comrades.

 **'Hard to say, honestly. But in the end, who gives a shit about them? I mean, if they abandon you just from that, then they weren't really your comrades to begin with.'** Rasen responded offhandedly. Vent bristled in anger at this, but he didn't say anything, just let him continue. **'The whole world could go fuck itself for all I care, there is little that I really do care about. You're one of the few things I do though, ain't you lucky? Only other ting I'd care about is unlocking your powers while making sure you're ready for them.'**

Hearing his words, made Vent think. His rising anger began to deflate, like a hot air balloon losing the air it contained. What the voice had said made some sense to him, as twisted as it sounded. There was a difference between calling someone a comrade and a friend. A comrade was someone you fought alongside with, bled together with on the battlefield. A fellow colleague who you worked with. A friend on the other hand, was a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically one exclusive of sexual or family relations.

The relationships he had with the girls were… complex, at best. At least, in his eyes. Vent worked alongside IF and the others as fighters-in-arms, kicking ass and taking names. That was simple enough to understand, especially for someone like him. But, even after all this time, Vent couldn't help but realise that he couldn't remember the first time he ever called them 'friends'. It felt like he wanted to get closer to them, to be able to consider them friends but he didn't. Why was that?

No, he knew why, and that was because he was nervous.

Nervous, because of the type of person he was. Vent may be a jokey, teasing person with a good head on his shoulders, but at his core he was also a Vigilante, a bringer of justice and vengeance against those who commit criminal acts yet are unpunished by the law. And if anyone thinks he was being edgy right now then look up how there are vigilante groups all across the world, trying to showcase their own justice. Vigilantism was a real issue, people, you just don't see it talked about as often. Since after the May 9, 2016 Philippine elections and the start of Rodrigo Duterte's term as the President of the Philippines, numerous suspects (particularly drug users and pushers) were killed by various unknown hitmen labelled as a summary execution during his war on drugs. Another example would be how on June 13, 2014, Darius, a 16-year-old gypsy residing in France and who has been several times interrogated by the police on the account of suspected burglaries and larcenies, was kidnapped, beaten up, and then left in a supermarket trolley by an unknown party after rumors circulated of him being implicated in a housebreaking, which happened several hours before in the city of Pierrefite-sur-Seine.

The incident at the Basilicom proved that his nervousness was well-founded, especially with their reactions to it. His vigilante self would always be a part of him, it would always crop up every now and again. It had been too ingrained into his system to just dismiss like that. He'd been like this practically his entire childhood since his Uncle passed away. Fighting for the innocent, punishing the Guilty… it did things to people mentally, and physically if they were foolish enough to get caught off guard. Though, he'd never gone to anyone for psychiatric help, and why was that? Because then he'd be pressured into admitting things that… he would rather leave under wraps. Things that scarred him in the past.

A vigilante can have terrible skeletons in the closet… especially him.

* * *

Vent's eyes widened when, all of a sudden he found himself in a flower field. The skies were blue, with not a cloud in sight. There was a slight breeze blowing through the field, everything being pure and bright. He almost had to cover his eyes from all the brightness that was around him, the wind slightly intensifying to make him do this action. The teen grimaced at this, but held firm. 'This… This is…'

Something in the distance caught his attention. It was a small figure, a figure that was rapidly approaching him. Vent's eyes widened, his Kakugan activating at the sight. The figure didn't seem to slow down at this development, almost as if the figure had not even acknowledged his identity as a Hybrid of human and Ghoul. As the figure neared him, Vent began to see some details that he hadn't been able to see before, features that seemed almost… familiar, to him.

A white dress,

Feminine yet childish,

Small size,

Tanned straw hat,

'Wait… is that…?!'

Slowly, it dawned on him on who this mysterious figure was as the figure neared him. He could see hair that seemed to match his colour of brown, falling down her small back. Her eyes, matching his own in colour, shined with happiness and innocence he had never seen before from her. Innocence that….

"It… can't be…"

"Yay! I get to see you again! Its been a long time, hasn't it?!" ]

The cheerful girl shouted joyfully, while in comparison Vent had his eyes wide open, shocked and pure disbelief racing across his features as he took in the form this girl had. The girl, who looked barely over 8 years old… Someone he thought that he'd never see again.

Before he could grasp what the heck was happening, the young girl, whom had a female him-like vibe, suddenly jumped at him, embraced him with enough of an impact that the teen actually grunted. Her tiny, frail arms that seemed much stronger than he remembered, clung to him fondly while she buried her head into his chest. Her straw hat fell to the ground, bouncing several times before some larger strands of grass caught onto it. Warmth, warmth that he never felt before, filled his being from the moment that this happened, something that installed a sense of shock, numbness and a sense of… awe.

'What is… what is…?'

Vent didn't know what to think anymore, he couldn't even think straight anymore, his mind only coming up with blurred, vague words. Incoherent, fragmented sentences that could hardly make any sense to anyone other than him. His arms, tense, remained at their sides, detached from the control that his brain provided for them, hanging there like dangling rope.

At first, Vent though this was a ruse, a fake out, a dream. He tried to call on Rasen to identify the cause and source of this so called 'fake dream' but he never responded. Now that he was trying, Vent couldn't find any sense of presence where the normally loud, mocking voice known as Rasen resided in his mind. Throughout the journey, Vent had always felt Rasen's presence, even before he had become aware of it. It had been like that nagging feeling in the back of his mind, a claw ripping his brain ion a tight yet not uncomfortable manner. This was the first time, that he had not felt his presence at all.

Fear began to build up within him at that point, Rasen had been someone to guide Vent in this journey of mystery and adventure, someone he could confide in and share his forbidden knowledge with. He could share anything with him as, probably due to how he was as a personality, Rasen had displayed loyalty only to him. He even stated this himself, that the world could burn for all it cared, as long as he would be alright then it was fine. So, to suddenly not have his presence in his mind, it was well… quite a blow to his mental composure.

Part of him wanted to release his Kagune and impale the faker for daring to impersonate someone important to him, but… he couldn't. No, not because he didn't have his Kagune, he could still feel it within him, but it was… calm, pacified even.

"Don't worry about it!"

The girl looked up at him, a bright grin on her face. Vent looked down at her in disbelief, his eyes showing a complex amount of emotions. Shock, disbelief, denial, joy and... relief, all mixing together into the expression he had on right now. She broke the hug, making a sense of disappointment and coldness wash over him, only to jump and wrap her arms around his neck, this time. Her face was now inches away from his face. "Believe in them, Vent! They'll see the real you under that little guise you have! Don't worry, they'll save you!"

Vent's eyes stared back into her most of his emotions replaced by confusion.

What did she mean by that?

What did...

Before he knew it, a bright light shone from the girl, blinding him before all he knew was darkness.


	36. Chapter 36 - Training time!

**Chapter 36 - Training time!**

Vent's eyes shot open as he gasped, shooting into an upright sitting position. His form trembled occasionally as he inhaled and exhaled, heavily. His eyes were wide, pupils shrunken into dots while his forehead felt wet for some reason. Raising a hand, the teen wiped his forehead clean of most of the wet feeling, and when he brought his hand back down to is eye level, the teen saw that it was sweat. He'd been… sweating?

Looking around, the teen saw that he was in bed, buried beneath the covers. Well, he had to have once been, since the covers had been thrown backwards thanks to his… shockingly prompted awakening.

'What… the hell…?'

That was the only thing he could think of as he tried to calm down from the recent event in his life. That was SO not what he had expected, and hell, he still felt the same way he did back in that dream, nightmare or whatever the hell that was. He looked at his hands, which were shaking quite noticeably. It looked like that dream had really rattled his mind, to make it lose control over them to this extent.

 **'Whoa, dude, what the hell?'** Ever felt like the whole world just returned to how you saw it, when it had been so long since it had? That was the kind of relieved sight hat escaped Vent's lips when he heard Rasen's voice. It confirmed to him a few things, like how he was now back in the real world, and now he had an anchor for his mind to focus on calming down with. **'You just doze off in the middle of prepping for bed, then the connection disappears! What the hell happened, Master?'**

'Honestly, I have no clue, Rasen…'

Before Rasen could respond to such a response, Vent's ears twitched when a familiar (and wholly welcome) sound reached his ears. He heard sounds of extending flesh, something that only ONE thing could have been the source of and looked behind him to see his Rinkaku having come out on its own. Its 6 Tentacles circled around him, 2 resting on his shoulders while the rest 'looked' at him from the front. If they had eyes, he would think they were concerned for him.

He soon felt his Ukaku, Koukaku and Bikaku come out to join it, and while this could make it so that IT could develop quicker, something in Vent just simply refused to care at this point. The male gave a small chuckle, humour dancing in his eyes as he ruffled the Tentacles using both hands, switching between his Kagune weapons. Each one shuddered in pleasure at his touch, and Vent had to repress the urge to shudder himself. 'Guess even my Kagune is worried about me.' He thought ruefully.

 **'Well duh, RC Cells have their own wills sometimes, you know.'** Rasen responded dully, as if that thought was one of his stupider ones. In hindsight, it probably was. Kagune were truly the fruit of the Imagination, at their core. According to the series main antagonist Furuta Washuu, 'even life can be birthed through infinite chaos' something that was seen in later chapters of the TG:RE manga. The interesting thing was that this also explains about how Ghouls such as Donato and Uta are able to create clones of themselves, which says a LOT about how much RC Cells they possess. There's also a Theory out there that Uta was the original One-Eyed King, the leader of the Ghouls that forced the CCG to be formed in the first place. This proves the fact that RC Cells can become sentient beings, with their own thoughts and emotions. It could even be possible for them to literally be all godly and create life.

Shaking his head to clear those Otaku thoughts from his mind for the time being, Vent decided to get up, missing his Kagune save for his Rinkaku, which proceeded to help him with his morning routine. In about 10 minutes, he was dressed in his signature attire and ready to go kick some ass. He remembered how they would be doing some training on his recommendation for the next 5 days. That would have to be enough time for them to properly prepare to face those Ghouls.

Well, among the things he'd said yesterday, there had been one thing he'd forgotten to mention, and that was the fact that they needed better gear. Their normal weapons wouldn't be enough to damage the RC Cell empowered fleshy hides that the Ghouls possess. He had been thinking about this even before they came to Lowee, which was why he had been talking to Histoire about a possible solution. Hopefully, she had something in mind when he called her next. Otherwise, things would become quite complicated.

Even if she didn't though, there was the idea of him detaching parts of his Kagune and forging weapons from them, weapons that the girls could use and store in their inventories. If they were damages in any ways, then they could simply be restored through his hardened RC Cells. Even as a weapon, those RC Cells should be able to absorb more of themselves if he reconnected them to his Kagune. The only problem was that he didn't want to accelerate its evolution too much, otherwise THAT would happen and he didn't want to think about what would happen then.

 **'Just so you know, we got company incoming.'**

Rasen's timely interjection couldn't have come at a better time, as the door to his room began to get unlocked. Vent quickly snapped to attention, retracting his Rinkaku into him and deactivating his Kakugan. Not a second later, he saw a familiar tuff of brown hair, then fair skin, until finally the form of IF was standing in his doorway, looking like she had just gotten her morning coffee. "You, Vent. Looks like you're up as spritely as usual." She remarked casually.

The male just smirked in pride, hands on his hips. "Yep, one of the perks of being an Otaku." He commented, cheerfully, before he dropped the façade and gave a serious, concerned frown. "I'm guessing that the others are still mad at me?" he questioned, failing to hide the nervousness in his tone. 'Goddamnit Vent, pull yourself together!' he scolded himself mentally. 'You got yourself into this mess, you have to see it through to the end!' He didn't feel remorse for what he said, no sir, it had been the truth. However, he couldn't help but feel anxious over the possibility of the others hating him. He didn't know why that was, though. Was it due to their acceptance of him into their word? Maybe, like he said, Vent wasn't sure.

"What, you think I'm not?" IF remarked again, this time with a raised brow and a curious tint in her eyes. There was a subtle amount of stern anger in there too, which made Vent tense inside. His form became rigid as he tried to say something, but found that his tongue was apparently tied to the point of not saying anything. After a moment of holding her gaze, IF gave a weary sigh, dropping it. "Don't worry, I'm not as mad as I could have been. You did tell me you were a Vigilante in your past, so it makes sense what you did. I get what you did, but the others probably won't."

Nodding his head, the brown haired male gave an understanding frown. "Yeah, that is kind of what I expected. It's my fault that I didn't tell them much about my Vigilante lifestyle. Kinda stupid, I will admit that." The male admitted to himself, furrowing his brows as he placed a hand around his chin, his mind spiralling into thoughts. Thoughts around what could have happened if he had told the other girls about his past life in his original world. He figured Compa might have forgotten that fact, since he only mentioned it to her once, but hey. At least Histoire and Uni also knew about it, so he could feel a little less like a dick.

… okay, now he sounded like he was pathetically trying to defend himself.

"Just so you know, everyone's waiting on you right now. They're at the kitchen downstairs, There's nobody else around, so don't worry about unsheathing those Tentacles of yours." IF stated, gesturing to behind him, and when he looked the teen saw faint red wisps coming from there. He could only flush in embarrassment, rubbing the back of his head in worry. "Hehehe, sorry about that…" he stated to the brunette lowering his hand to his side. "Guess it's just reacting to how I feel right now…"

"You worried?"

Vent tensed for a brief moment, and made to retort. However, when he saw how IF gave him the 'tell me the truth or else' stare, he just caved in. Really, girl just HAD to be adept at using that stare. Though, it would make sense since she was the kind of person to not take anyone's bullshit. "Yeah... you got me there. I guess they just didn't see what I was trying to say back there. It may have sounded harsh, but..."

He trailed off when he saw a hand raised, and looked to the brunette who raised it. "Don't worry, I get it. You were just expressing your worry in your own way. While the others may not get it, you're not the kind of person who would express their worries the same way as normal people. Kind of makes it hard to empathise with you, if one doesn't know you as well." IF remarked, before she turned on her boots and made to leave the room once more. "Best come down now and face the music. Expect RED to try and gouge your face off when you next see her. She's the resident Wifey seeker after all."

"Yeah, I get that…"

 **'Hohoho! I'll bet the Kagune will see to it you're protected, Master!'**

'That might make it harder for me, but alright…'

"Oh yeah, just one last thing." IF spoke Justas she was outside, turning her head to look at him. There was a glint in her eye, a glint that seemed more knowing than she let on. Knowing on what, he didn't know, until a moment later. "Don't worry about going full out, we'll make sure to smack you up a bit if you go out of control."

"!"

Before Vent could question her, IF had already left the room, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

Moments after IF had left Vent speechless, the One Eyed Ghoul had left his room to go downstairs to the Kitchen. Every step felt heavier than the last, the pit forming in his gut getting bigger each time. No matter what would happen next, he would see it through to the end. This was his doing, so he had to endure the consequences of his actions. Everything had a consequence, this just happened to be the result of his own actions.

 **'Hehehehehehehehe, I can tell there will be some craters in this little establishment.'**

'Not help… Oh what the hell, you wanna see some entertainment, don't you?'

Rolling his eyes at the maniacal laughter, Vent prepared himself. He could feel his Rinkaku about to sprout at the slightest provocation ahead, something he felt both relieved ad threatened by.

As he entered the kitchen, it turned out that his Rinkaku needing to be ready was a good idea, for RED had already begun barrelling towards him the exact second he entered. She looked mad, from what he saw before his Rinkaku came out in its claw form, grabbed her by the head and smashed her into the ground. The male groaned, face-palming himself as he saw this, feeling RED struggle beneath the weapon's grip. "Yeah well, I'd be lying if I said that was unexpected…"

Looking upwards, the male saw the gazes that Nepgear and Compa were giving him, and they did not look happy. Especially with how their friend was being pinned by a large claw to the head. Ugh, this would be troublesome, and the maniacal laughter resonating through Vent's mind was NOT helping things. Then again, times where he was actually helpful weren't as common as Vent would have liked. 'Though they aren't doing anything, probably cause they know my Kagune will protect me…'

Idly he noticed IF having walked to another section of the Kitchen, deciding to keep out of this issue.

Looking down, the male gazed downwards, his mismatched eyes (since his Kakugan had automatically activated when his Kagune saved him from seeing RED – pun intended) eyed the struggling redhead, who was not trying to push his Rinkaku off her by grabbing it by it's version of the wrist. "Hey, that won't work, RED. The Kagune's too strong for you to break." He told her. "As long as you promise to not attack me as I explain myself, I'll let you go."

It took a while of struggling on RED's part, but she finally seemed to calm down and reluctantly nod. With that as confirmation, the brown haired male raised his Kagune from her head, the weapon remaining in front of him in a protective manner. Standing up, RED gave him a salty look, before she retreated back to her seat, plopping down on it with a loud thud.

With a satisfied sigh, Vent felt his Rinkaku recede into him. Although, his Ghoul side still remained alert and wary. If there was one attack on its wielder, then who's to say there would be more? That was what it was assuming, and right now Vent wouldn't put it past them to try. Especially with how they were looking at him. "Look, I can understand why you guys may not like what happened back there, what I said to those girls clearly seemed to unnerve them. They may be going to bed with one eye open for a while."

He raised a hand when he saw Nepgear being about to speak. "Let me finish. Just know that I don't regret what I said one bit. I fully intend to make sure that what I said back there DOES NOT happen. Like you all are thinking, those children are that, children. They have yet to experience the life that you and I have. Well, ore you than I, but that's beside the point. ASIC has already shown they're willing to stoop to underhanded tactics to win, thus those two need to be prepared for the worse."

"But you could have said that in a… different way." Compa interjected. Her voice was soft, but the disappointment in her eyes shone as clear as crystal. It was clear that she didn't like how he handled those two. His level of tact had been practically at zero, and the twins had been scared senseless. She didn't like that, but hoped that Vent had his reasons.

Those reasons were soon put to light in the next few seconds though. "IF, and you Compa though I only told you this once back in Planeptune, know this but the rest of you don't. I'm a Vigilante back in my world, and in that time I spent there I saw how far people can go in order to get what they want. Being a Child? Doesn't matter, people like ASIC will do ANYTHING to further their goals. We saw this when Underling tried to take Rom hostage, so you should know this. Why, I wouldn't be surprised if there was child trafficking going on behind their lines."

Nepgear, during his explanation, had made to say something, but stopped herself and heard him out till the end. She still didn't like what he had said to Rom and Ram back there, but she had read many comics about vigilantes who take the law into their own hands. She had read how fine a line they tread in their morals, one of which was a Manga about this old man and teenage guy getting hit by a beam of light and gaining powers from it. The life of a Vigilante wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, but she hadn't paid much attention to such manga's. She'd only read one she'd found lying about in Histoire's office one day.

Honestly, the more she thought about it, the more she found that him being a Vigilante made sense to her. It explained a few things about his mannerisms, his past actions like how he instantly struck Underling when she took Rom hostage. Or how passionate he'd become when he learned about her sister and the other CPUs. Plus, Vent did have a different mentality compared to the rest of them, it had been made clear as day, so it would stand to reason that he would do things differently compared to the rest of them.

While she still didn't like it, Nepgear slowly found herself understanding him a little better.

As for the other two, Compa began to deflate as her tension left her. She still felt a little miffed, but in the end she too could get it. As a Nurse, she was expected to treat patients who were victimised by those who took the law into their own hands. It was something she had hoped she wouldn't have to see until much later in her career, but beggars can't be choosers. Also, she couldn't say much to try and persuade Vent to change his ways, since she likely hadn't seen even a bit of what he'd seen. It would be arrogant of her to assume otherwise.

The two of them couldn't be more different. They may eat the same foods, speak the same language, they may have fought alongside one another for a long time, but that didn't change the fact that the differences between them were as noticeable as the distance between the skies and the earth. She didn't know if she would ever understand him truly, but Compa could do her best to try. The fact that she would try would make being around him a whole lot easier, plus this was only one black stain on an otherwise decent record. It was hardly a reason to start treating him any differently compared to before.

RED on the other hand…

"Humph! You're a meanie! Meanie, meanie, meanie! Wifey hurter!" she ranted, falling onto the ground and flailing her limbs about like a toddler throwing a Tantrum. She was practically acting as childish as she usually did, something that Vent rolled his eyes at. While it looked like something else, the teen felt that she was just expressing herself the only way she knew how, just like he did. That was what he was getting from her at that moment since her words lacked that bite to them.

Finally, IF chose now to step in as she went towards the flailing redhead. "Alright, enough of that RED. He said his piece, now let's focus on what we should be doing today: training. Through all that stuff, I will admit that he makes a good point about the training thing. We need to prepare big time if we wanna face those Ghouls again. We basically got ourselves creamed before."

Now THAT stopped the young girl as they all thought back to the battle with the Ghouls. They could still feel the phantom pains from when they were literally manhandled by those guys. Even after a day's rest from those guys, the phantom pains refused to fade away. First Tatara, then Seidou and now Yamori with his White Suits. These Ghouls were not like anything they had faced before. They needed some MAJOR overhauling if they wanted to get even with them. "Well, I guess, but what can we do?" Nepgear questioned, worry laced within her words. "I mean, those guys can't be hurt by much, save for my weapon, Vent, and magic, so a lot of us don't stand much of a chance if we fight them again."

Compa hummed in agreement, worry dancing through her eyes. "True… we need some gear that can help us without fighting… I don't wanna break my Syringe on their skin…" she mused.

The brown-haired woman made to say something, but Vent stepped forwards and beat her to it. "Don't worry about weapons, I have that covered myself. As for training, I think we should wait till the rest of us join the party."

"Huh?" RED blinked as she stood up, looking at him in confusion. "Whatya mean by that, Venny?" she asked him, referring to him by nickname. It proved to him that his theory about her words earlier was true, at least. Still, he didn't delude himself into thinking everything was alright. Not until this was all done and dusted.

Before he answered her, Vent smirked to himself when he heard two distinct banging sounds on their door, as well as two childish, yet familiar, voices outside.

"Heeey! Open up, you meanies!"

"We're here…"

Everyone's eyes widened as Vent went back out the kitchen and into the corridor. He went down to the door and opened it, allowing two familiar CPU Candidates to walk inside. "Looks like you guys came, just as I expected you would."

"Rom! Ram!" Nepgear called out in shock, quickly jogging towards them with surprise etched onto her features. Soon enough, the rest of the Party joined them, reflecting their leader's surprise.

Ram huffed as she puffed her chest out, looking to the side with her eyes closed. "Hmph, we couldn't just let you get away with what you said, dummy!" she stated, pointing a tiny hand towards the male Hybrid. "We're going to join you train, and you can't stop us!"

"Uh huh…" Rom added on shyly nodding her head in agreement with her sister. Despite the shyness, Vent noticed a layer of determination in her eyes. It made a small smirk form on his lips, pride filling him inside. It looked like he was right about those two after all.

IF realised soon what was going on here, her eyes lighting up as the pieces coming together in her mind. "Ah, I get it, you two came here to train with us, didn't you?" she remarked, getting unified nods from the twins. Her eyes flashed as she began to think of Mina. "Lemme guess, Mina doesn't know you're here?"

"Nope!"

"Figures…"

"Oh don't sweat the small stuff, Iffy!" RED cheered, throwing her arms around the twins and pulling them into a hug. "This is just proof that we have plot on our side! Even if this isn't canon, right wifey twins?"

Vent rolled his eyes as he walked over and successfully pried the twins out of RED's grip, pinching her in the back of her neck. She went 'ouch!' as she relinquished the hold on the twins, allowing him to pull them away from him. "Now RED, no need to suffocate them before we begin training." He stated, admonishing the young redhead. Said redhead rubbed the back of her neck, glaring at him for his actions. His Kakugan flashed briefly when she did though, stopping her from making further progress. "Anyways, since we all have all the pieces in place, let's begin the training."

"Yeah!"

* * *

(Training – Vent VS Nepgear)

"Alright, you ready Nepgear?"

"Yeah!"

Nepgear and Vent, the former in HDD while the latter was sporting his Mask. His eyes narrowed behind it, while the young CPU Candidate tried not to show how the sight of the Mask intimidated her. She held her Gunblade at the ready, while Vent held his Vier in Scythe mode.

"Um what is it that you're trying to do again?" Nepgear questioned just before they could start. She couldn't see his facial reactions, but his body stopped its attacking motions. That seemed to indicate that her words had reached him.

Slightly tilting his head to the side, Vent pondered on what to say to respond to that. What did he want to do here? What was he going to achieve in this training? Well, he knew the answer to that. "I want to… learn some more tricks with my Negatron. I've honestly been neglecting it for a while now, for my Kagune and Ghoul-related abilities." He replied. It somewhat stung to admit that, it felt like he was admitting to being weak, something that stung away at his pride.

Thinking back on it, Vent had been relying mostly on Vier and his Kagune to win their battles. His reasoning had been basically sentimentality, considering both of these were quite important to him, His Kagune came from his favourite Manga of all time, while his Vier was quite literally the last thing he had of his parents. Even with the mysteries slowly unravelling around them, that fact remained solely constant. He had been neglecting his Negatron energy save for mere enhancement or defensive manoeuvres, though deep down in his gut he felt like there was so much more he could do with it.

Though, he resolved to change that, something that Rasen gleefully laughed at in his mind.

Nepgear hummed thoughtfully, her thoughts being on somewhat the same wavelength to the male's own. "Huh, I see… I understand." She finally said after a few seconds of thinking, nodding her head in resolution. She held her Gunblade at the ready, her eyes sharpening. "There's a couple other things I wanna look into in this training, things other than my SHARE CANNON. So, I'll not be holding back!"

"Good!" Vent yelled as he summoned his Negatron Reserves. From his body, came a crimson aura, covered with red lightning with a black outline while his eyes gained a slight reddish hue. Unlike his Kakugan, though, this hue was reminiscent more to a demon's eyes than a Ghoul's. "I won't expect anything less than your best, Nepgear! Now then, talking time's over, let's do this!"

"R-Right!"

* * *

(Training – IF VS RED)

"So um…"

"What is it, RED?"

IF rolled her eyes in exasperation, as she and RED faced off against one another in another field. The sounds of Nepgear and Vent's training could be heard in the distance, nearly making IF whistle. 'They must be really going at it pretty hard…' she thought to herself… before flushing at her slight innuendo. Damnit girl, now is not the time for that, right now you should focus on what the fuck you're trying to do with RED here.

"What are we doing again? Cause I have no idea." The redhead questioned while she was prompted by a flickering of one of IF's Qatars to draw a weapon. She chose her toy hammer, holding it over her shoulder like a gangster. Heh, Gangster RED… maybe that might help her get some cool, stand-offish wifeys in the future! "I mean, I get that we're supposed to be training and all, but…"

The brunette scraped her Qatars against one another, frowning in contemplation. RED did have some point in asking that question. What COULD training do for them specifically? Only Vent and Nepgear had the means to injure Ghouls with their powers, meanwhile she had to rely on overdosing her Qatars with Magic affinities to help them get an edge on the enemy. If she couldn't find a way around that, then she may not be of much use to the Party as a whole. Her Skill Attacks cost valuable energy, sucking it up faster than a certain blonde ninja and Ramen. If she couldn't find out an alternative way to fight, then she would become liability when they fought against Ghouls.

That could NOT be allowed to happen, under any circumstance.

She had promised Nepgear that she'd protect her, back during their bout with Underling goddamnit. Hell, she'd even promised Vent that they'd grow stronger together! She wouldn't be put down under the rug, swept aside like some freaking damsel. Nuh-uh, that's NOT happening!

"Wer're training to…" she began, an idea soon forming in her mind. She had to condense her opinion into words, and with RED that was slightly harder since she didn't really get tough things and thus, required simplification. "We need to train so we don't get left behind. Those Ghouls have the edge on us when it comes to their flesh, so we need to find a way past that."

RED hummed in thought as she took in IF's words. She didn't do much at first, but then she remembered just how badly Seidou pounded her into the ground when they first met. How he had rendered her unable to fight, thus forcing her to leave it up to Nepgear and Vent to fight him off. Honestly, that kind of stung her pride a little bit. How could she call herself a Wifey Seeker if she couldn't even protect her Wifeys! That just lead only to bad ends over and over!

Her eyes shone with determination as these facts reared their ugly heads. Thoughts of wifeys soon disappeared from her mind, mostly anyways though she didn't focus on that, instead she thought of how she could train in order to protect the Wifeys she still had. "Alrightie then! Let's get training till we drop Iffy! We don't wanna have our wifey brigade leaving us in the dust!"

"Now yer talking, RED…" IF said, a grin slowly sweeping across her features. She felt a little weird at her reasoning, but it was indeed a 'RED' thing to say. It was all about those Wifeys with her. "Now then, let's get to it!"

* * *

Deep within the World Labyrinth Dungeon, things were arguably less… tense, for lack of a better word.

Underling growled to herself as she eyed the Seal keeping the Arfoire machines at bay with uncontained anger, frustration and bloodlust. "Ugh, damnit, this totally blows!" she raged, stomping her foot on the ground as she threw her arms downwards. "If it weren't for those broads, I could have destroyed the Mascot already and broken this damn seal!"

According to their intel, the seal the Lowee Mascot had been bound to was a complex one. One that would come completely undone should the Mascot be destroyed. That was because once it went bye-bye, the Seal's power would also go. It was like when a Laptop that needed to be connected to the main circuit of a building suddenly got disconnected. It shut off instantly. That was what would have happened here, the Mascot, the main circuit, would have been destroyed and the disruption would cause the seal, the laptop, to instantly shut down.

Instead, THIS happened.

Those broads, including Vent, managed to save the Mascot at the last moment. They took it with them when they fled the Dungeon. Now the analogy shifts, and instead the Laptop that is the seal was practically running on its own battery power, instead of power provided by the main circuit that is the Lowee Mascot. From calculations by her superiors, it would take a while for the power to be all used up, so during that time she and the Ghouls were told to defend the Seal until it was completely broken, then they could start taking out the KIllachines by the dozens.

That was what caused her ire, plus the cause of her current ranting.

Too bad she had forgotten that she wasn't the only one around, something she became QUITE reminded of when she heard a furious voice come from behind her.

"Stop yer whining, ya little brat, its freaking annoying! You whine one more time and I'll give ya the Jason treatment, ya dumb harlot!"

Underling froze, her body standing up straight as she heard the voice of one Seidou Takizawa, whom was sitting on top a pile of monsters, munching on them like they were French fries. Apparently, ASIC have found a way to imbue the Ghouls and their Kagune with the ability to disable the Monsters tendency to disappear into particles upon death, allowing them to devour the corpses and sate their appetite. This allowed the human members of their group to feel slightly more at ease when working with them, the threat of them going berserk from hunger being brought to a minimum. However, Ghouls did have their temper, Seidou especially, which resulted in daily casualties anyways. Though, in comparison to their hunger, it was much less of a concern to their superiors, so that was why they hadn't done anything about it.

Honestly, Underling felt like the only reason she's able to survive this long with such temperamental creatures was because she was one of them now.

"Y-Yes sir…" she mumbled in submission, earning a snort from her fellow Hybrid while chewing on a piece of a monster. Whatever it had been, she didn't know but that didn't really matter. Not after Seidou was finished with it.

Her eyes fell towards the pile of bodies Seidou sat on, and she soon felt like her mouth was watering. Her eyes widened while her body trembled, her inner Ghoul screeching in pure HUNGER which slowly began ebbing its way to the forefront of her mind. 'Guh!' the green haired girl cursed, holding the side of her head as she forced herself, much to both her disappointment and her anger, to look away from the delectable sight before her. 'Shit, these Ghoul instincts are freaking getting to me!'

Apparently, Seidou noticed her state, as he narrowed his eyes and activated his Kakugan. "This is my stuff, shit head. Go get your own, if you're that hungry!" he bellowed, hopping off the pile and landing before it. He moved like an animal defending its turf against attackers, hissing dangerously. He instantly appeared before her and before she could react, he had her by the throat and lifted her into the air. He snarled in disgust. "Serious why the hell are you even here? All you do is fail and fail all the fucking time, ya shitstain! Just go and fucking die already, you're a useless fucking character and nobody even shitting likes you!"

Every word Seidou unloaded on Underling just then, it felt like a bullet to the gut. The green head winced and cringed through the whole time, but no matter what she would not show how much those words stung. She refused to show weakness, the liquid rising from behind her eyes, the urge to just go in a hole and curl up into a ball in it was not there. Nope, not at all! She refused to even acknowledge it as she held Seidou's forearm with her gloved ones.

After a few seconds, the other Hybrid snarled once more, his eyes shining with animalistic feral intent as he tossed Underling to the ground behind him. "That's it, I can't take it anymore." He spoke, growling as he stepped towards the downed girl. "Get up, ya maggot!"

"Wh-Wha?"

"I said get up!" Underling, fearing another beating, jumped to attention faster than a certain road runner. "We're going to train! You're an embarrassment to our kind, but when I'm done you'll know what it means to be a Ghoul!"


	37. Chapter 37 - Training Results (Somewhat)

**Chapter 37 Training results (somewhat)**

Cold winds blew through what looked like an ordinary day in the Land of White Serenity. Lowee citizens wandered about, fulfilling their own everyday tasks. Some bought games, others played outside with their friends. Parents took their kids to parks to watch them play on the sidelines, while others went to work for the day. Their lives, plain and not that interesting, paled in comparison to what was going to be happening soon.

Vent himself walked through the streets, hands in his pockets. It was the last day of training before the Party would be going to fight the Ghouls to regain the Killachine Seal. Over the last few days, him and the girls had been training non-stop, devising new ways of fighting against the Ghouls. Honestly, he could say that compared to when they first arrived in Lowee, the girls had come quite far. Farther than he had expected, actually. Heck, even RED had knuckled down to get some training in. Ironically, it was she who helped the most in Rom and Ram's training, the said Twins practicing these new ideas for Magic attacks. Guess that just went to show how much they could get done if they were dedicated enough, huh?

Though he still kept an eye on them, and also a part of him still worried. What they were getting into would be way over their heads, that much would be certain. They were going up against beings that would more than likely eat their guts for garters. Beings who would have no qualms in showing them no mercy on the battlefield. Ghouls like Seidou, Yamori, the white suits… they weren't people who held back on their opponents, regardless of gender. One time in the Manga, Seidou repeatedly smashed his fists into a woman's clitoris, while Yamori broke a child's neck for his own amusement… though he was also doing it as a form of torture for Kaneki. Both actions were sick, but in his mind one trumped the other. One can guess which one that was.

On the second day, Mina had called them and asked if they had seen the Twins, as they had returned late that night. She had almost overwhelmed with the urge to lash out at them when Vent responded that they were training alongside them, and while it was indeed understandable, given how young they were and the apparent motherly protection she had over them, Vent had to once again give her the cold hard facts.

"Mrs Nishizawa, Rom and Ram, like I said, are CPU Candidates despite their young ages. The MOMENT that they saved us from those Ghouls was the moment they put targets on their backs. You think that just because they didn't attack us these last few days means they're safe? No, not in the slightest. The fact that they haven't attacked us yet is potentially the worse option. Make no mistake, Mrs Nishizawa, they WILL be hunted, and they WILL have their intestines gorged on by the Ghouls if they aren't careful. Thus, them training as if they were going to war is a necessity. In fact, they're practically already INVOLVED in a war the moment that the CPUs fell into captivity."

His words, cold and harsh, were nothing but the truth. Vent had no qualms about saying what he did at the time, and this time the girls didn't express anger at him… as much, at least. While they didn't approve of his words, they didn't disapprove of them either. IF had asked them this, what were the Ghouls like in their many encounters with them? How did they act? The answer: brutal. The first time Nepgear and her friends fought one, their limbs were ruthlessly severed from their bodies, something that Gamindustri residents have never had to deal with before. The next time, one got the pounding of a lifetime before being tossed aside like a ragdoll, unable to do anything to get payback. They weren't the kind of enemies they were used to, and as much as they hated to admit it, Vent had good arguments. This was an enemy that showed little to no mercy in battle, an enemy that would totally wreck their asses if they allowed them.

Which made training all the more important.

Like he had said back at the Basilicom, aside from him and Nepgear, the other girls were sorely lacking in the training department. They weren't weak per say, no that wasn't what he was trying to get across at all. They had the abilities they'd need to fight monsters and Abnormals, something that normal humans couldn't do. At least, that's the consensus in this world, if monsters were to appear in his world, he would bet his ass that humanity would find a way to pull through. After all, they had no CPUs to believe in and rely on to save their asses. They only had myths and legends to go off of, and considering that world's current state of affairs, at least before he came here, it would be apparent that those 'Gods' gave no shits about humanity. But back to the point, those girls weren't 'weak' by any means, no sir.

Thing was, Ghouls weren't their everyday enemy, more so than any Abnormal.

Right now, the male was taking a short break from training, taking in the sights for the time being. If his hunch was correct, then this stuff could end up being destroyed in retaliation at any time. Ghouls do hold grudges after all, a perfect example of this being Yamori with his fixation on Rize Kamishirou. The guy practically kidnapped and tortured someone who resembled her… by SMELL. Smell. Something so insignificant yet he didn't care, he just took it as a form of compensation and tortured the one who had it as if they were the agitator themselves. That spoke VOLUMES about how ruthless Ghouls could be.

Then there was Tatara, a Ghoul who normally appeared all stoic and calm, like a calm blue ocean. However, the moment the name 'Houji' was mentioned around him, that ocean became a raging storm and, usually, the one mentioning the name would be nothing but a smear on the wall… at best, Vent never liked that about his character, but Vent could also understand Tatara in a way. Family was important, to the both of them, and both had lost their families long ago. Scars like that don't fade without serious repercussions.

As for his training, Vent would happily admit to having achieved a load of successes already. The teen had access to more techniques, both original and inspired from other Anime/Manga he'd seen. He could feel his Negatron reserves rushing through his veins, ready to act on his orders should he require it. It wouldn't be visible unless one really strained their eyes, but it even kept a very thin layer of itself around him at all times, faint sparking sounds echoing from it. He'd been able to stop it from hurting people, but the moment he wished it, his Negatron would activate itself like an alerted predator. It would condense itself into a fiery aura, similar to that of the Super Saiyan 3 Goku used in Dragon Ball Z… only he didn't have the long hair.

Each of the girls had improved in their own ways, but that'll be saved for another time.

'This peace…' Vent thought as he eyed the surroundings. He watched people as they passed by without a care in the world. Most had small smiles, neutral looks, or slight smirks on their faces as they went about their everyday lives. Most of them weren't aware one bit of the way things were headed, nor were they aware of the possible bloodbath ahead. Ignorance was bliss, in most cases. However, Vent disagreed with this notion, he felt that people needed to be informed of a danger and the ways to resist it. Only, in this case, there would be very little they could actually do, which was why he had held his tongue. 'It's quite often… how peaceful places like this become the centre point for large-scale battles.'

What he meant there, was that places of peace and tranquillity, like small isolated villages or towns, tend to suffer the worst out of anywhere when a war breaks out. Just look at the second world war back in his world, Brazil was in between the conflicting powers of Great Britain and Germany. They were innocents that were caught in the crossfire of something they had no hand in. You could say that they were collateral damage, but that would be a bit too cruel to say, even for Vent.

 **'Hehehehehe, this is going to be so much fun, master!'**

… and of course, Rasen gave no fucks, laughing his head off within the shadows of his mind. Vent had gotten used to it at this point, but there were some times where even he got disturbed by the bloodlust that Rasen often possessed when he spoke. Though, when it came for something like Training one couldn't ask for a better instructor. He knew the most about Negatron, more than anyone which obviously made sense. One just had to deal with his bouts of insanity and the level of fucks that he never gave about others save for you… honestly, he didn't really mind that last bit. In fact, it made him one of the people Vent would trust the most, because he didn't give a damn about anyone but him, Vent would always have the biggest priority in Rasen's case. Maybe one could argue that it was just because they were interconnected, but in his gut Vent just couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to it than that.

'I guess… still though, it would have been nice if I could have talked to IF a bit more about what she said…' The male responded to his tenant, a frown on his lips as he thought back to the morning after they returned to Lowee. IF had said that he didn't need to worry about 'control', something that set off alarm bells in his mind, as well as a torrent of questions like thousands of 'ORA, ORA!' punches used by Star Platinum. How much did she know? What did she know? How did she know, and why had she not said anything about it to anyone else? Questions like that always pounded within his head, but he'd been able to push it aside for the time being.

Still, it'd give him some form of peace of mind if he had been able to talk to her, but thanks to his speech about Training she had been too busy for that to happen.

 **'Meh, who cares? She probably just said that to throw us off, Master. She probably doesn't even know what she's talking about. It's not like we showed much of what we've been going through, you know.'**

That… was true, at least he assumed that was Rasen's way of saying that she had no way of truly knowing what they were dealing with. That thought did put some solace through his head like drug addicts getting their fix after so long. Vent figured that would be the best he had to go on for the time being, after all there was no point in mindlessly pondering this while he had no ways to get answers. It would be beast saved for later, like when this Ghoul stuff blew over.

'You're right, I'll keep calm about it for now. Not like we can just get answers for this just by moping-'

"NYUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

The male's eyes widened when he heard a childish sounding voice in the distance. His Ghoulish hearing picked up sounds of distress, panic and fear. It oddly sounded as bad as victims of a flood watching as their precious belongings were washed away by the unrelenting current.

Vent twisted on his heels, looking to where he could tell where the sound was coming from. 'What the hell?! That sounded like a girl's voice… I'll check it out.' The male thought. It wasn't like he had anything else to do, plus he didn't want to ignore this, not if he could have helped it. With that in mind, Vent focused Negatron into his legs and broke into a sprint, his form a blur as he went to where he heard the sound.

* * *

"Hah, we've got you cornered, brat!"

"Don't think you can run from us!"

Several men, White suits, stood tall before this young girl, a girl whom was lying on the ground covered in various injuries. Her tiny body had dozens of lacerations, small and major, adorned over its form, with her right arm twisted into a horrible angle and her left leg bleeding heavily. It looked like she had gone through a paper shredder and barely remained intact, a terrific sight from one of those well-executed horror movies.

Aside from those injuries, the girl had other things about her appearance. She was a fair skinned little girl, appearing to be a middle schooler. She had dull yellow-brown eyes and was a light brunette. Her hair was almost the size of her body and had been worn in two pigtails with two bells holding each one. Her long bangs framed her face and she had two un-even cowlicks. On her head, she wore a yellow cat eared hat on her head with a tiny kitty face, single stitch, a daisy, and few brown stripes on each ear. Her outfit resembled a school uniform. It consists of a white top with red bow-tie and green collar with green lines. The skirt matches the neck, and she also wears black flats with green socks, and a big white bow.

Beside her, was a circular yellow creature with feline features, which was currently trying to hiss dangerously to protect her owner.

"Nyuuuu… Broccoli shouldn't have made that wrong turn, Nyu." The girl moaned, whimpering in pain.

One of the White Suits stepped forwards, making the feline creature hiss… only for it to cry out when a Tentacle emerged from the white suit Ghoul's back and whack it away from her. He snarled before grabbing the girl by the head. "This is what you get, ya little bitch!" he shouted, saliva spitting onto her face. "This is what happens when idiots like you go snooping where they don't belong!"

"… your saliva's mucky. Could you not, Nyu?"

"Haaaah?!"

SLAM!

"NYUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

Apparently, the white suit didn't like that one bit, and thus saw fit to smash the girl headfirst into the ground so hard that it created a crater the girl's whole size. It earned a pained exclamation from the girl. It only got louder when she was kicked in the head, being launched through the air about 10 metres before impacting the ground hard. She landed on her head, and at this point the girl was struggling to stay conscious. Her wounds hurt her so bad, and black spots danced across her vision.

"Ugh, this shirt blows, can't we just kill her already?!"

One of the White Suits shouted that out of frustration, causing the young girl to tense. Though, they didn't notice this. Good and bad for her, because while it meant that they weren't focusing on her, her injuries were too much for her to move properly without making any sounds. She'd be caught in seconds, and possibly suffer even worse at the hands of these bad men.

"Hey, remember boss's orders. He'd been called back in for some 'fun' back at the HQ, and we were assigned to this winter Nation. In the meantime, we'd be getting someone else to replace him, with that girlish brat as a substitute leader. He told us not to bring unnecessary attention to ourselves, remember?"

Another White Suit spoke in a placating manner, trying to calm his buddy down. The first one snorted and growled, and if she could see properly, she'd see him pouting like a brat. However the girl didn't kid herself. She figured that the other man would have tried to help kill her if things were different. Whoever their 'boss' was, was a real stinker for leaving these bad men in town. She didn't like the way that they said 'fun' either, she just got a horrible feeling in her gut.

"Yeah, sure, but we can just kill her right? Take her to a back alley, not like anyone will notice one measly brat's disappeared."

Now THAT was something that inspired intense dread within the girl. She barely stopped her verbal tick of 'Nyu' from escaping her throat in a pained whimper of pure fear. She hadn't meant for what happened to happen, she had just been minding her own business when it happened. It hadn't been in her control much, yet these guys didn't care. All they had wanted to do to her was… something no Gamindustrimen would ever conceive of doing to a small child like her. She didn't want to look at the other man's face, for fear of his reaction. She desperately hoped they'd leave her alone after they had their 'fun' playing catch the little girl on Gema.

"Hmmm, I guess so, he did say not to draw attention to ourselves."

Like that, her hopes vanished as a deep, empty feeling slammed into her gut. It knocked the wind out of her, and despite how pained she was, the young girl couldn't help but shoot her eyes wide open. She soon wished she hadn't though, for her eyes, wide with horror and dread, met the black and red eyes of one of the white suits… RIGHT in front of her. It didn't help that the White Suit was giving a wide, toothy and demented grin that just screamed 'I'm a killer and I love it'.

"Heh, well, sucks to be you little brat. If you hadn't been a nosy parker and seen us, we'd not have a problem with ya. But since you saw what you saw, we ain't got a choice… meh, I'd still do it, just because." The White Suit before her said as he grabbed her by the head and held her at his eye level. "Whelp, lets go have some… REAL fun… Hehehehe!" the man gave a disturbing, creepy that sent painful shivers down her spine.

She tried so hard, to remain as calm and composed as she usually did, but on the inside her mind was freaking out. Panic clouded her judgement, and with the angle she was being held at, the girl could recognise the bloodied, unconscious form of her companion, who'd stuck by her through thick and thin. The wounds she sustained were terrible, and if she weren't treated soon then…

Despite herself, a low whimper escaped her lips, but she didn't let the wetness building behind her eyes to spill onto her face. She didn't want to give these bad guys the satisfaction. If she was going to go down, she'd go down without showing her fear.

'Sorry… Gema… looks like… this is it… it's been nice… knowing you…'

"OI, YOU FUCKERS!"

In a single moment, something large, crimson and black came down from the heavens with a mighty roar. It slammed right between the girl and the White Suit, a limb knocking him back while something else wrapped around her tiny body. Almosy protectively. The girl couldn't see, but she didn't need to. Just by feeling the comfort those arms provided, was enough to dull her senses in a sensation of peace.

She lost herself to that sensation.

* * *

Now, there were many things that Vent hated in the world.

Abusing a young child like the one in his arms was one of those. It immediately put the cause on his shit list.

Child cases always hit home with him back in his world, due to.. circumstances back when his Uncle was still alive. They were always his priority back then, whatever other cases were happening got dropped when he heard of a child being abused, or found one having that kind of thing happen to them. He was only one person, so he couldn't stop EVERY crime in the world, but he would do his damn best to freaking try. When he'd finally get his hands on the ones responsible for such cases, well… let's just say that the victims of SAW, IT, etc paled in comparison to what they were like when he was eventually done with them.

Usually, Vengeance wouldn't solve much, at least that was the popular belief. However, Vengeance can sometimes be the only way for people to get closer after a traumatic event. And an abused child would want to see their tormentors suffer in the worst ways possible. Sometimes, Vent found it more impactful to leave the tormentors alive and in agony for when the Police finally came around to see his good work. The child would be healed to the best of his ability at the time, but Vent would not be around. However, the child would simply tell them that his little nickname, the Spirit of Vengeance, had helped him.

Right now, all Vent saw was red, the moment he saw the downed girl and the White Suits.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened.

Gently, the male lowered the girl to the ground behind him, his Negatron flaring around him in a deceptively calm manner. It looked like a small flame, just about to burst into a raging firestorm. The air grew cold, tense and dark as he aimed his KI at the White Suits, whom were gaping at what just happened. Some managed to snap out of it and quickly release their Kagune though, instinctively sensing the upcoming battle. Most of them were Koukaku shaped into Axes or Shields, with one Ukaku that had his Kagune shaped like a thorny bush on his right shoulder.

Nothing that Vent couldn't handle. He'd been training his Negatron powers just for something like this. His Kagune, until THAT situation sorted itself out, would remain on standby as a last resort, he didn't want THAT developing too quickly after all. That would be bad under normal circumstances, but in a densely populated area like a City?

Even worse.

'Vier, you and my Kagune aren't being used here, I wanna test out some of my techniques.' He thought to himself, rolling his shoulders and cracking his knuckles. Even if he wasn't using his Ghoul powers, he decided to add effect to his glare by activating his Kakugan, the black and red eye bursting into life in his left eye. The sight confirmed his identity to the idiotic Ghouls, whose own Kakugans widened with surprise and more than a little fear. One Eyed's were naturally stronger than full-blooded Ghouls after all, though they didn't run thanks to numbers being on their side. "You idiots did a good job in pissing me the fuck off. Now it's time for you to reap your rewards."

With that said, the teen clicked his fingers, and Negatron encased the girl's body in the form of a shell, as well as the feline-like creature behind them. He figured it belonged to the girl since her scent was all over it. Vent bet that she wouldn't be too pleased if he didn't protect something that belonged to hers, plus it would help speed up their natural recovery.

He called this little trick the 'Nega-Shield'.

"You little…!" one Koukaku Ghoul growled, his Kakugan eyes bulging in madness and deranged insanity. "I'll enjoy having your dying corpse as my dinner, you braaaaaat!" he bellowed, unleashing a berserk yell as he sped towards him. For a Koukaku Kagune wielder, this one looked to be quite fast. Though, by his reckoning, Kagune could grow beyond their base limits as imposed by their functions. An Ukaku could consume little stamina or a Bikaku could devour an abnormal amount of RC Cells.

When he was right before the teen, about to shove his axe-like Koukaku through his stomach, Vent responded by gathering Negatron into his right hand, forming a RASENGAN and thrusting it into the Ghoul's gut, getting shocked screams of pain from the being as the attack grinded away at his insides. As it wasn't a Kagune, it couldn't outright piercer his flesh, but its very nature reminiscent of a Whirlpool helped it leave its mark. The attack ended up sending the Ghoul flying backwards in the signature spiral it had, but Vent wasn't done.

Gathering more Negatron into his hands, the male formed 12 seeker-missiles made from the energy, 6 around each hand that were coloured crimson with red and black lightning arcing from their bodies. He then quickly yelled "TESLA MISSILE!" before throwing his arms forth, launching them at the Ghoul. The missiles flew up above the Ghoul's form, before they banked straight down into his chest, causing him to gasp, eyes wide as he was engulfed in a 10 meter tall and wide Negatron explosion.

This prompted the other Ghouls to strike back, roaring as they charged at him with their Kagune weapons raised to strike. Their speed, while commendable, became nothing but turtle movement once Vent activated OVERDRIVE and blurred forwards, appearing behind them. Turning around to face him, the Ghouls temporarily wondered what happened, stunned, before they were each encased in explosions of Negatron.

If any were to look at his hands, they would see them overshadowed with a crimson aura of Negatron, shaped into elongated, double edged straight blades the length of a shortsword that had matching Lightning sparking around them.

That move, was one of his CQC techniques, an original one he devised himself called 'N-Blades', basically where he covers his hands in Negatron and sliced through his opponents as if his hands were blades. Well, it wasn't completely original, as it was heavily inspired from the KI blades that Zamasu from DBS used against his opponents. Difference between them was that his were more combat orientated instead of just assassination based like Zamasu's were. Though that villain did have variations that worked just as well.

Glancing behind him, Vent quickly raised his N-Blades, cross blocking the Ukaku Ghoul's Kagune which had been morphed into a Drill-like Lance, The two struggled to overpower one another, Kagune vs Negatron as the two users locked their gazes with each other. "Y-You bastard…!" the Ghoul growled, his Kakugan eyes bearing down upon his mismatched ones. "I'll get you back for those stunts!"

"Oh, really?" Vent questioned, his lips twisting upwards from a grimace into a mocking smirk. "Well, that would sound intimidating, if you were…" he paused slightly, before snorting in amusement, his mismatched eyes shining. "Well, intimidating."

"Are you mocking me?!"

"Oh no, no, no…. Psh, yeah!"

In a spectacular show of 'shot to the heart!' Vent broke the connection and dispersed his right N-Blade, forming a Negatron sphere that he thrusted forwards, firing it in the form of a beam that hit the Ghoul in the chest, sending him flying towards his comrades, whom were still regenerating from their wounds caused by his earlier attack, amplified by his OVERDRIVE Skill. That was what he called an 'N-Blast' a considerably more basic technique, but it used a lot less energy than his Skill attacks did, so it would be handy if he was low on power.

There were quite the few more techniques he'd come up with (blame it on his Otaku background, goddamnit) but he didn't want to show off ALL his cards before the main event. Plus, it looked like the Ghouls were having a bit of trouble getting up from his attacks.

Either their regeneration was weaker than what he gave them credit for, or Negatron had some SEVERE side effects on the enemy's body he wasn't aware of. He'd have to talk to Rasen about that sometime in the future.

"Y-You…!" the Ukaku Ghoul groaned, holding his chest and wincing as pain exploded within it. Like a lion suddenly going to town within his ribcage or something similar. He didn't like it, and neither did his brethren whom were all giving the teenage Hybrid death glares. "You'll pay… you'll pay for this humiliation! When the boss gets here he'll-"

Before the Ghoul could finish, Vent sighed as he held a hand out and shot several sparks from it, each one making the Ghoul yelp and shut his mouth. 'Basic shock attack, Negatron has many properties similar to Lightning, and by the Goddess I am so glad I pay attention to that YouTuber the Film/game enthusiast. He's quite good at using real-life science to explain things that people may have overlooked, like that video about the Dragon Ball Kamehameha.' He thought to himself, lowering his hand. "Shut it with the cliché villain speech bullshit already, you're grating on my nerves."

"Grrr….!"

Growling with hatred so tense that if looks could kill then all of ASIC's leaders would have crumbled from the sheer volume the Ghouls radiated. However, they didn't attack him again, just from that short display of power they realised that beating him by themselves wouldn't be in their best interest. Plus, they'd been slightly starved of flesh and RC Cells thanks to chasing that girl down, so it wasn't like they were at their best either. With those thoughts in mind, the Ghouls hurriedly fled the scene with their tails between their legs. It was kinda funny to watch, if Vent was honest with himself…

Was this what Ghouls felt like after proving their dominance over their enemies?

He hoped beyond all hope he wouldn't become more like Yamori or worse, Seidou in terms of sadism.

 **'Say, why not hunt them down like the dogs they are, Master? It'd teach them a valuable lesson and lessen the numbers you'd have to face in the upcoming battle.'**

'So as to sow the seeds of fear into their comrades. Their fear will lead to a drop in morale, something we can exploit when we finally go to retake the Seal.'

 **'… Pft! Hahahahaha AHAHAHAHAHA! Brilliant! Perfection! Absolute PERFECTION! There may be hope for you yet, master!'**

While Rasen lost himself in his usual bouts of madness, Vent shook his head and made his way back towards the unconscious girl. The moment he willed it, the shell around her shattered to reveal her prone form, having most of her injuries closed up to make her condition slightly more stable. She looked to be breathing better though, something he took solace in as he kneeled downwards and picked her up. He held her in his arms like a parent holding their new-born infant, before glancing to the Nega-Shield holding the feline creature inside. He commanded it to shatter, and it obeyed to free the contents within.

'Looks like the two of them are in less critical conditions for the time being…' he thought, sighing in relief. 'I'll bring them back to the Hotel, so they can rest there while we prepare for the upcoming battle.' With his plan in mind, Vent took the feline creature into his arms as well, before turning on his heels and leaving for their hotel.

It was late afternoon when the male One-Eyed Ghoul had returned to the Hotel, and coincidentally the others had finished their daily training activities for the day. Kicking the door shut behind him, Vent made to head up to one of the bedrooms, preferably Compa's since she had the most medical supplies in the Party (being a professional Nurse and all) when he suddenly bumped into the EXACT person he was thinking about. Apparently she had just headed out the living room towards the kitchen, likely towards prepping dinner. Hotels in Gamindustri weren't like the ones he was used to, one can just book one and they become like this small house for those residents.

 **'Talk about speaking of the Devil. Or angel, in this case.'**

'That, I can whole heartedly agree with you.'

"Huh? Oh, hey Ven-Ven, how have you-EEEEHHHH?! Ohmygoddess, Vent what happened to her?!" Compa shrieked as she noticed the injured girl in his arms with a shaking finger pointed at her.

Vent rolled his eyes. "Compa, you know its rude to point." He stated, getting an abashed look from her before he continued. "Anyways, I need your help. This girl was attacked by White Suits, for what reason I don't know since by the time I got there she was unconscious, but I stopped them from causing her further harm."

As a Nurse, it was Compa's obligation to accept his request for treating this girl and her… feline friend. She had no idea what it was, but if it was with the girl, then it must be important to her. Honestly, it wasn't the weirdest thing she'd seen in Gamindustri. Plus, the poor thing looked like she'd been forced to run through a Dungeon filled with Fenrirs without any items or rest, she NEEDED help… and she would do her darned best to help.

"Okie dokie, come with me, we'll get her help." Compa urged, quickly making her way upstairs. Vent followed suit, carrying the cargo while he heard the sounds of Nepgear and IF doing their own little things down in the Living Room.

* * *

In Compa's room, things just calmed down for the duo. It took about 2 hours, but they'd finally finished treating the two's wounds, and now the two were resting in the bed, tucked un neatly under the blankets. "Whew…" Vent wheezed, wiping the sweat off his brow. He hadn't as much experience with first aid, but he'd done his best to be of help to the professional in the room here. "Looks like all she needs is a night's rest or so till she's back on her feet… along with her pet." He mused, glancing towards the feline creature.

"Yep-Yep!" Compa chirped, also eyeing it.

Said creature was currently curled up in a ball, snoozing as evident by the 'Z' symbols that came out of its mouth, as well as the snot bubble. It had barely awoken once, and refused to leave the girl's side one bit. It seemed to be highly protective of the girl, something that both considered and decided to let it be. Though, Vent couldn't help but feel a swell of pride and respect towards the creature.

Despite its… questionable nature, one thing that he'd seen in its eyes was that it held extreme loyalty toward that young girl. Those wounds it had sustained could only have been gained through battle, heavily implying that the creature had been fighting for the girl's sake. Such loyalty was something that immediately put one way up there in Vent's books. He highly valued loyalty, since it was so rare that he came across two being so committed to each other. In a life filled with deceit, danger and paranoia, such shows of loyalty were like a breath of fresh air to him.

There was still the question of why those Ghouls had been attacking her in the first place, a question that both he and the others would like to have answered, once the others learned of her. He planned on telling them at dinner, though something told him that they had their suspicions already. Girls were oddly keen on things like this, he'd learned, something that Vent had attributed to one of the many mysteries about girls that guys would never understand even in a billion years. Seeing that they had little else to do, the duo looked at each other, before nodding and leaving for downstairs to make dinner. They had some explaining to do, too.


	38. Chapter 38 - Last Minute Prep

**Chapter 38 - Last minute prep**

Finally, the time had come.

It was morning, and everyone was already wide awake and eating breakfast… though, they also had one other addition to the table.

A certain someone to do with Vent and Compa, by the way.

"#MUNCH# #MUNCH#, Me thanks you all for the great grub. Its delicious, Nyu."

It was the same girl that the male had saved from the Ghouls. Apparently, a night's worth rest was really all she needed like he'd said, cause she was already up and at em by the time Vent and the others got up. She must be an early riser then, something that Vent could relate to… although, it probably wasn't stemming from the same reasons as his short rest periods.

She currently was sitting on top of that creature the duo had brought back, which she had affectionately referred to as Gema. She sat on top of it like a cushion while eating the breakfast (bacon and eggs) that Compa had cooked for them, though the creature didn't seem to mind one bit. In fact, Vent would go as far as to say that it enjoyed the contact. It didn't take them log, save for RED, to realise that she preferred Gema as a means of sitting rather than anything else.

Though, with the way she ate, it nearly made the girls die of heartburn from how cute she looked. Her blissful expression, combined with her inflated cheeks, looked pretty darn cute in their eyes, though Vent made sure to focus more on where her injures had once been, checking for anywhere that might still be healing. Those injuries had been quite serious from what he remembered. Though, he had to admit that this sight was far better than what he saw of her when he first laid eyes on her.

Images of her bloodied, battered form lying on the ground, about to be feasted upon by Ghouls filled his mind, nearly making him wince as he shook the images away.

He didn't need to think about it anymore, he'd stopped them. He'd made the choice to stop that act before it could be completed. He'd saved an innocent life, that must count for something in the long run.

Unaware of his thoughts, Compa gave a bright smile and a giggle, a pleased look on her features at the fact that this young girl enjoyed her cooking. "Thank you, I worked real hard on it, mrs… um…" she tried to say her name, but then the Nurse realised that she didn't actually know what her name was.

"Its Broccoli, Nyu."

"Oh, well its nice to meet you, Broccoli!"

"Nyu!"

"Awww!" Nepgear gushed at the response the small girl gave, just barely restraining herself from glomping the girl like her sister would. She was always a hugger, and Nepgear was the same. The only difference was that Nepgear herself had restraint. Her sister Neptune? Hah, restraint wasn't even a part of her vocabulary… same with work and anything related to governing a Nation. Once more, she began to gush over the small girl's form. "So cuuuute!"

IF nodded her head in agreement crossing her arms under her bust as she regarded the scene before her. She didn't say anything, but the way she was looking at all this indicated that she felt the same way.

Compa though, had NO such restraints as she eagerly joined up with the Planeptune CPU Candidate in hugging the small girl. She squealed in joy just like said Candidate, too, both girls hopping up and down.

While watching this, Vent gave a small smirk, his eyes twinkling in amusement. This was good, with the way the girls were acting it would keep their minds occupied and calm, not on the impending doom ahead. It would keep them calm and happy, away from the coming storm instead of just worrying about what could possibly happen. It was something he'd seen quite often in war movies, how rookie soldiers would try their best to hide how anxious they were for their first ever upcoming battles, and when the time came to fight they'd sometimes buckle under the pressure.

Though, he soon noticed the small girl slowly becoming blue as she had little access to oxygen for her lungs to inhale to keep her alive. 'Time to step in.' the teen thought to himself, walking up to the trio and forcefully yanking them away from Broccoli, one hand each on their shoulders. "Alright you two, you've had your fun smothering the poor girl. She looked like she was about to suffocate from the lack of oxygen." He stated, rolling his eyes at the rather sheepish expressions the two girls had.

Turning to the young girl, Vent waited till she regained her breath after that little onslaught. The poor thing had almost popped from the combined weight of those two girls, something that made him pity the poor kid. Once she had her breath back, the male kneeled before her so they were almost at eye level, before he opened his mouth. "Broccoli. I know you've just went through something traumatic, but I need you to tell us what happened back there." He told her sternly, yet with an undertone of sincerity. His eyes shined as the young girl's eyes widened when she remembered the previous days' events. "Why were those Ghouls chasing you?"

It took a moment, and Vent feared the worst when Broccoli looked like she was about to have a panic attack. Those Ghouls really did do a number on her, it seemed. Something that he could understand, for a young girl like her the brutality of Ghouls (the freaking white suits no less) can be quite traumatizing. Eventually though, she regained her composure as, to his surprise, a fiery determination formed within her eyes. He didn't expect that, but nonetheless, it raised points in his respect for her courage. "Broccoli will explain, Nyu!"

She took a breath, cleared her throat and began her tale. "I was taking a relaxing walk towards the city, I heard that some good cookies were being made here to promote faith in Lady White Heart, so I wanted to give one a try. I wasn't looking where I was going, and I bumped into some individuals, Nyu." She explained to them, frowning as she remembered those events. Events that would likely remain ingrained into her brain for years to come. "They didn't take too kindly to that, and had been discussing something about a blocky dungeon before I came into the picture, Nyu. They then tried to kill me, but I escaped into the city. They chased me for several days straight, before you found me Mister…?"

"Vent." Vent stated his name with a sweat drop. He realised that, in his haste to get some information from her about her circumstances, that he'd forgotten his basic manners. Whoops. Vent could hear the maniacal laughter coming from Rasen right now, though he pushed it to the back of his mind. "Anyways, Its impressive that you were able to survive for so long, usually Ghouls like those would rip their prey a new one the second they got the opportunity."

Instead of being scared by the last bit he said, Broccoli puffed her chest out in pride, hands on her hips and a large grin on her face. Vent glanced to the girls behind him and had to make a gesture to release his Kagune to stop them from trying to hug her again. Seriously, those two were suckers for cute things. "Broccoli is skilled at hiding, Nyu. She can use her size to her advantage, keeping monsters from finding her, Nyu."

IF then stepped forwards, holding RED by her head. Apparently, she had tried to get to Broccoli like Nepgear had Compa had done, only for the brunette to pull out the invincible Iron Claw technique from a certain demon teacher in a certain mecha anime to stop her. "Well, that clears that up. It just goes to show that Ghouls aren't to be underestimated." She stated, frowning in concern. True, she and the others had been training to get better, to get stronger so that they could fight off those Ghouls. However, part of her still wondered whether or not they had what it took. Remembering their last battles against them, they practically would have chowed down on them had Rom and Ram not intervened. Speaking of which… "Say, what about Rom and Ram? What are they doing?"

That got a confused look from the lone male member. "Well, not sure on that one. The only explanation I could think of is that Mina somehow found out about them coming to us, and is disciplining them somehow." He remarked, before shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe its for the best they don't come. After all, where we're going, its not exactly a place for little kids like them, as I've said."

His words caused the other girls to frown, even RED who stopped struggling in IF's Iron Claw grip as she pondered on his words. They all remembered what he had said about the Ghouls, and their own experiences with them told them all the proof they needed. Those Ghouls would definitely be doing the things that he said they would. No matter who their victim was, Broccoli here was just proof of this. They were enemies that none of the girls were used to, sadly enough. They were enemies that didn't give a damn about how young the victim was, only that they were sacks of flesh to be devoured. If they were this cruel to Broccoli, then whose to say they wouldn't do the same to Rom and Ram?

They may have gotten lucky if they didn't show up, it was almost time for them to head out after all.

"It seems I have caught you all before you are to leave, that is good."

"!"

Everyone turned and jogged to the entrance, where a feminine, familiar voice had broken the sombre silence the Party had been in before. Their gazes landed upon the hotel's door, or rather, the Lowee Mascot that was floating there next to some boxes.

"Eh?!" Compa exclaimed in surprise at the sight.

Nepgear soon stated the obvious after Compa's little sound there. "It's the Mascot!"

"Way to state the obvious there, Nepgear…" Vent muttered under his breath, before they all waked up to the Mascot. "Though I do admit, it's a surprise that you came here, I thought you would have stayed at the Basilicom so people wouldn't be aware of your existence."

 **'Which brings the question, how the fuck did it get here without being seen?! Those Ghouls could have gone all 'intercepted!' on our asses and blindsided it, destroying that junk easily!'**

On that the two could agree, though Vent wouldn't be so crude about it like saying that the Mascot was 'junk' as Rasen abruptly put it. Before he could ponder on this any further, Vent got his answer when the Mascot spoke. "I wished to see you all once more before you head off to battle, after all I must be coming with you so that I may return to the seal. As for the civilians, I merely teleported to the only other source of divinity in this area." The Mascot explained, getting understanding 'oh's from the Party. That made sense, since they were going to re-take the Seal, it would make sense for the Mascot to come along.

Though, Vent did have something to say about that. "But, won't that make it easier for the enemy as well? If they see that you are with us, then they'll bring all their power into crushing us and destroying you." He stated, frowning, The Mascot coming with them made sense, true enough, but it also put a large target symbol on their backs. It would only make their trip to the Seal much more hazardous than if it were to remain in the Basilicom.

"It is as you said before, young man." The Lowee Mascot responded, floating over to him as if to showcase that it was primarily speaking to the male. "The Ghouls will be able to bypass any and all of Gamindustri's defences. Those Guards will be next to useless in dealing with the average monster, nevermind the Abnormals or the Ghouls. Thus, remaining in the Basilicom will put me in just as much danger if I were to go anywhere else. In addition, we will have only one shot at reclaiming the seal in any case, thus we should be prepared for anything." Now that got the male's questions answered, something that he began pondering on while the Mascot floated over to the boxes. "Though, I am unsure as to the nature of these boxes. I did not bring them here myself, nor did anyone in the Basilicom."

As the rest of them looked to the boxes, they too shared the feelings that the Lowee Mascot had on them. Compa hummed as she put an index finger on her chin. "I never heard the doors open…" she muttered, concerned as well as confused. She couldn't recall ordering anything from Lowee's shops nearby, their supplies had been restocked the previous day. So, what the heck were those Boxes? Why were they here?

IF looked them over, the boxes were the size that someone would have to ezert a moderate amount of effort to lift them even short distances. They were sealed tightly with light liliac duck-tape on the lids, and as she looked at them something caught her attention that made her eyes widen in surprise. "Huh? Wait a minute, I recognise this…" she muttered, surprise evident in her voice. The brunette walked up to the boxes, and kneeled before one to examine it more carefully. Her eyes landed upon one of the boxes that had its side exposed to her, and they soon noticed a symbol on them. Her eyes widened when she saw that the Symbol was that of Planeptune's Basilicom. "Eh?! These things are from Planeptune!" she exclaimed in surprise.

"HUH?!"

"What the heck?!" RED exclaimed as she bounded over to IF and checked the symbol. "Hey, super-secret-agent wifey's right! I remember seeing this when I'd order yuri manga online!" she exclaimed. She scratched the top of her head with her right hand's index finger, promptly ignoring or missingthe irritated glare that the brunette sent her way as she wondered on what this meant. Sadly though, her brain arrived at a stump, making her pout in annoyance as she bobbed her fists up and down. "Boo! I dunno girls, I can't think of why they'd be here! I wouldn't have ordered anything, I already got my latest Yuri Manga releases when we left Lastation!"

Compa, upon hearing that statement, frowned in RED's direction, an unhappy pout on her lips. "So that's why there was a drop in our credit reserves…" she remarked, causing the KI from IF to spike making RED shudder and chuckle sheepishly. The brunette made to walk towards the redhead, intending on giving her a proper lesson on why you DON'T spend the Party's credits on such useless things.

However, RED was saved when Vent broke out of his musings and noticed what was going on. "Oh, I had them brought from Planeptune." He stated bluntly while standing tall. This garnered him a bunch of shocked looks from the rest of them, but before they could ask him what the hell, the teen waked up to the Boxes. "I called Histoire shortly into our training, asking her for a few favours. You didn't think training alone would make you a match for Ghouls, right?" he asked them, arching a brow. "True its something you all have been needing, but that alone wouldn't be enough, they still got that ultra tough skin you know. Thus, I asked Histoire for some help, and she told me that a certain someone arrived at Planeptune's Basilicom and offered to make weapons from 'Quinque Steel'."

"Quinque Steel?" Nepgear blinked owlishly, confused at the nickname. It seemed like a big deal with the way Vent was going on about it, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out why that was. Though, part of her wondered if it had something to do with the Ghoul menace they were facing.

The teen nodded in response, and began to explain. "In basic terms, it's a special metal made into weapons called Quinques that can damage Ghoul tissue. He offered to help supply Planeptune with the stuff. Histoire gladly accepted, and in a short timeframe she had some Guild engineers craft some Prototype gear for you all. I say Prototype because there wasn't much time to make the official versions and mass produce them, but thanks to this person, they were able to create some new gear and send it to our current Hotel address,"

'Hinami's father moving to Planeptune wasn't something that I expected, but then again it probably was so that he didn't have to be reminded of the fact that his wife and kids were killed by Yamori…' the male thought sadly, frowning when he remembered that little incident. Take away a man's family, and you give him nothing left to lose. That was a quote from a movie he once watched called Zombiland, just slightly edited for the purpose he wanted. Still fit though. 'Still though, its great that he's helping our cause. Helps us get access to weapons that can fight against the Ghouls.'

With a few swift hand movements, Vent sliced off the duck-tape, freeing the lids from their confines. He then began shuffling through the boxes, for a few seconds anyways before he grasped one of the box's contents and pulled it out. "Ah, looks like these are for you, IF." The male remarked, standing up while twisting on his heel and presenting a pair of items to the said Guild Agent.

"Huh? Thanks…" the brunette muttered in confusion as she took the items. When she looked at them, her eyes widened when she saw what they were. They were VERY good replicas of the gauntlet claws that the humanoid Gore Megalla used on them back in Lastation. Only, there was pulsating red where the purple should be, and the gauntlets covered her thin arms quite nicely when she put one of them on. "Hey, these are…!"

The male nodded, smirking in satisfaction. "Yeah, I gave Histoire some design choice ideas. Those'll chop through Ghoul hides like butter, and from what I've been told they apparently have been imbued with magical properties, allowing you to place magic in them like you did with your Qatars back in the Lowee Expo." He explained, watching as IF marvelled at her new weapons. She indeed tried imbuing them with fire magic, and the two weapons erupted in large, purple flames. The flames even made the claws look bigger than they should be, extending their reach and truly making them look deadly in appearance.

"You think that these have some instructions to them?"

"Bet they do, but I just took out the weapons. They should still be in the boxes."

"Well, I'll take a look then. Thanks again though Vent, these'll be a great help."

"No prob."

Bending down to rummage through the boxes again while IF went to see if she could find her weapon's instructions, Vent pulled out what looked like a Syringe… or rather, what should be a syringe. The weapon easily had the length of a longsword, a dark greyish colouring instead of the glassy colour of regular syringes, with the shape of a syringe mixed with a gun. The gun part came from a canister attached to the base of the weapon, which held a trigger. Above the canister was this single slot machine, which showed what looked like a purple bubble. The male looked it over, and noticed a button on the trigger's side. Upon pressing it, the male saw that it switched the symbol to a bomb. Repeating the action, Vent saw that it had a purple bubble, bomb, lightning bolt, icicles, red flames and lastly red claws.

"Here, Compa, this looks like something you would use." Vent stated, smiling as he stood up and handed the weapon over to the Nurse, whom had walked up to him during his speech. He held it out to her, and the young Nurse slowly but gingerly took it.

The moment she felt the weapon sink into her waiting hands, Compa began adjusting to the unfamiliar weight. She had to admit, the weight felt a little heavier than what she was used to, and the tip oddly looked more like the tip of a rapier than anything, but aside from that she figured that it wouldn't be too different from what she was used to. "Oooooh…. This thing looks neat!" She exclaimed, beaming proudly while she quickly hugged the male. "Thanks a bunchies, Ven-Ven!" Once she finished the hug, Compa quickly joined her brunette friend as they rummaged the boxes for the instructions to their specific weapons.

A chuckle escaped the male's lips before he looked to RED, whom was puffing her cheeks out cutely while sporting face only a jealous stalker would possess. "Don't worry your pretty little head, RED, you've got something as well." He remarked, putting the girl on the head before resuming his rummaging. This allowed him to miss the slight pink hue on the redhead's cheeks, whether it was due to the gesture he just did or his compliment about her being pretty was anyone's guess… though the author would lean towards the latter.

It vanished however, by the time the male was finished bringing out another weapon while the Mascot just watched for the time being. "Now, you're a unique one RED, since you use a series of toys for your weaons consisting of a Yoyo, sword and hammer, so it was kind of difficult thinking of something that would fit you. But then Histoire came up with an idea that fit the bill, also this must be the result." He told her, before handing her… what looked like a… Choker?

The choker itself looked rather stylish, now that RED was looking at it, it had a single black leather belt-piece that had a brilliant red jewel over the middle that was kept in a silver socket. The Choker didn't look like it fit with her Japanese themed kimono, though, which further helped it stand out.

"Eh? What's this thing-a-ma-bob do?" the redhead questioned, before shrugging and putting it on her neck. She brushed her hand over the red jewel part… and just then, there was a red flurry of data streams that flowed from the choker. The streams cascaded towards her right hand just as RED gave a startled yelp, stumbling backwards and falling onto her backside. Didn't stop the datastreams though, as they gathered into her right hand's palm before elongating into a solid shape.

In the next second, everything died down as RED looked down in pure awe. In her right hand, she now held a sword, one that actually had a real texture to it and looked NOTHING like a toy like she had been using for so long. The sword had a black futuristic style hilt, with what looked like a human skull on the bottom, dangling off a chain. It had a large black sword with a crimson blade and a long handle, and a saw-like backedge.

"Whoaaaaaaa…!" RED gaped, dropping her jaw in shock as she stared at the weapon. She quickly got onto her feet and tried to lift the sword, finding that despite its size, the sword actually felt lighter than she expected. "This thing looks so COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!" Finally, RED got her voice back and she made a really loud shriek. Her eyes like stars as she swung the weapon about over her head, almost hitting Vent and Nepgear with it in her joy.

Quickly, Vent put a stop to that. "Hey, watch it, RED! You could lop someone's head off doing that!" he yelled, grabbing RED by the wrist and stopping her from making anymore swings. Blinking owlishly, the redhead had to admit that he was right, that she kind of got carried away just then, and could only chuckle sheepishly. "Anyways…" sighing in relief that nobody would be losing their heads like headless chickens any time soon (something that made Rasen groan in his mind) Vent pulled out a manual from his pocket. "While you were having your little moment, I found the instructions." He told her, before opening the manual and flipping through the pages. His eyes gazed over the pages in record time, while his lips moved like they were having wills of their own. "Turns out, this Choker's a portable dimension device like your inventory, only its primarily used for storing your Quinques. This one apparently's a Koukaku type called King Saw, its specialty lies in close combat which is pretty obvious when looking at its design. Apparently, this device has a number of Quinques inside it: King Saw (sword), Deadeye Revolver (Hammer), Arcanaria (Dual Blades) and Medusa (Shield)"

While she listened to him, RED glanced down at her Choker, childish wonder in her eyes before she eagerly bounced up and down on her own two feet. "Oooooh, goody, goody, goody! Lemme see, lemme see em!" RED exclaimed as she tried to get to the Manual in his hands. However, Vent raised it so high that she was unable to get to it, even while she leaned on him on her tippy toes as she tried to reach it. "C'mon, gimme already!"

"Will you promise to be careful? Unlike before, these aren't toys. You could hurt someone if you're not careful."

"Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes!"

Once he was sure that he'd made RED squirm enough (honestly, she was almost as fun to tease as the rest of them), Vent finally relented as he passed her the manual. With a sharp spring in her step, RED bounced gingerly towards the other girls, joining them in figuring out what their weapons could do and how they could use them in the upcoming battle.

 **'Whelp, looks like they're having a fun experience. Wonder why Histoire never gave us anything.'**

'With what we can do, its not like we need anything else, you know. There's a fanfic where the OC the author's made apparently is way more overpowered than us.'

 **'… oh, yeah, that one! Good thinking, master!'**

"Um…" Broken from his conversation with his tenant, Vent turned his attention towards the one who dared break him from it, and found that it was Nepgear. The Planeptune CPU Candidate shuffled nervously, playing with her fingers in an attempt to keep calm. "Did.. Did Histoire send me anything?" she asked him nervously, yet with a tiny bit of hope in her voice as she looked into Vent's eyes.

'Huh?' the male blinked in confusion, wondering why the hell she would ask something like that. Especially since she already had something that can help her fight against Ghouls in the form of her HDD. "Why would you ask that, Nepgear?" he questioned, tilting his head. He then glanced towards the other girls, something that Nepgear's eyes flickered briefly towards for a millisecond, before a few moments later the male figured something out. "Why, Nepgear…" he began, a teasing grin on his features as he looked back at her. "You wouldn't be jealous of the others, now would you? I know you're a gadget fanatic, but..."

Immediately after his teasing, Nepgear's face went bright red as she tried to stammer a reply. However, her face said everything he needed to know, electing a brief moment of laughter from the male. Said male stopped after he noticed Nepgear looking at him in a mix of annoyance and embarrassment though, it wasn't something he could continuously laugh at. She was just too damn adorable for that. "Don't think so, Nepgear. You and I already have our weapons, you with HDD, me with my Kagune and Vier, so we shouldn't have much to worry about…" he replied, before trailing off as he noticed her disheartened expression. "Hey, don't worry." He told her gently, placing a hand on her shoulder. "This just shows that Histoire has faith in your ability, don't feel too bad about not getting a weapon, alright?"

It took a moment, but Nepgear eventually relented. It was true, they did have a few ways they could fight against Ghouls and Abnormals, ways that were solely unique to them. It wouldn't be fair if they became more OP just when the others were getting upgrades of their own. Those were her thoughts at least… before she noticed that the male was touching her shoulder still, and probably wouldn't remove it unless she gave an answer. A flustered expression formed on her features while the purplette girl struggled to come up with a response. "O-Okay…" she barely managed to get out, making a relieved smile form on his face as he let go of her shoulder.

A pang of disappointment hit her at the loss of contact, much to her confusion though. 'Huh..? What is this…?' she wondered, glancing at her shoulder with her confused stare. 'Why did I… like having his hand there?'

Vent didn't notice this however, as he turned to the rest of the girls who were still looking over their respective manuals. Looked like they found them alright. "How's it going, girls? You doing alright?" he asked them, walking up to the trio. Broccoli was hanging back, watching everything unfold with curiosity.

"Yep!" Compa beamed happily, looking up from her Manual at him while giving a thumbs up… having put her new Syringe under her armpit to do so. "We're A-ok, Ven-Ven! These things seem so simple to use, its making me one very happy Compa." She told him, getting a chuckle from the One-Eyed Ghoul. Then, the young Nurse glanced over to the boxes, and something else caught her eye. "Huh…? Um, Ven-Ven? There's one more box there." She commented in confusion, pointing towards the Box in question, the last one to be opened.

Blinking like an owl, Vent looked to the direction she was pointing, and indeed there the box was. His brows furrowed as his lips were pursed. "Huh… you're right, Compa. I don't know why, but looks like Histoire sent something else." He mused in confusion, walking up to the box before kneeling next to it." Wonder what it could be…" he muttered under his breath. A second later, the teen grasped something that felt like a hilt, before he pulled something long and metallic out from the Box.

Once it was completely out, Vent, Compa, IF and RED looked at the object in confusion. The weapon looked like a long, white metal futuristic Katana. Its length looked to be that of a 6 foot tall human, and the metal blade itself looked like it was larger than the hilt. Vent's fingers grazed over a button on the hilt, and accidentally pushed it. This resulted in, to the group's shock, the metal Katana splitting in half and a glowing blue energy blade at least a forearm-'s length longer than the metal form it had before, to shoot out.

"Whoa…" Vent mused under his breath as he stared at the glowing energy blade. He looked down at the hilt, and found the button once again. Pressing it, the Katana reverted to its default form with dozens of mechanical whirring sounds resonating from the weapon. Once it was back to normal, Vent held it in his hand questioningly. "Huh… A Katana that deploys an Energy blade…" looking back to the Box, Vent rummaged through it and found a Manual. He noted that the Katana's name was displayed proudly on the cover, which made him read it aloud. "Yukihira Nagata… huh? Well, let's call it Yukihira for short, but this Katana…" Glancing over to Nepgear, who looked out of it for some reason, the teen chose to call out to her. "Hey, Nepgear!"

"H-Huh?!"

"I think you got yourself a new weapon, after all! Here, catch!"

"Wh-What the goodness?!"

When Vent tossed her the Katana, Nepgear scrambled to catch it. She almost dropped it when it landed in her arms, but thankfully she managed to keep a hold of it and pull it into her chest. A relieved sigh escaped her lips before she looked down at the weapon. Her eyes shone with glistening stars while her mouth formed an 'O' shape as she gazed upon the weapon. "Goodness… this weapon looks like one of those mecha swords in one of those mecha Anime I watched…" she remarked breathlessly.

"Well, looks like Histoire wanted to give you something to fight with alongside this HDD you have. Apparently, it'll be like how Vier is to me, how we can empower our weapons with our respective energies. According to what this manual says, anyways." He explained, taking a quick glimpse through the Manual in his hands before he walked up to her this time, and handed it over.

The Lowee Mascot, which remained silent while watching all this unfold like Broccoli did, floated over to the male as Nepgear joined the rest of the girls. "It looks like your friends have gotten themselves some significant upgrades. You should feel relieved, I take it?" it asked him.

"What makes you say that?"

"You may have hid it from the others, but I was able to see through it. You want them to be as well armed as possible so that when this… thing in you eventually goes berserk, they will have a fighting chance against you." The Mascot stated bluntly, causing Vent to glance at her with his jaw hanging open. "Like I said, you may have fooled the others, but you cannot fool me. I am way older, and more experienced than you. Your mother had a similar issue when we met for the first time."

Now THIS got his attention. At this point, he just couldn't withhold his curiosity anymore about how his mother seemed to be connected to Gamindustri. It had been bugging him ever since the Planeptune and Lowee Mascots had hinted that they knew his mother as well, they knew something about him but they weren't sharing. Now that he thought about it, Histoire seemed to show similar mannerisms sometimes. When she thought he wouldn't notice, she would give him this wistful look, like she longed for something that was lost way back into the past. Back then though, he had been focused more on rescuing the CPUs, and to an extent this was still the case. However, his curiosity overwhelmed him, which forced him to ask a question about it at last. "You… know my mom?"

"…You could say that." The Lowee Mascot replied slowly, as if hesitantly for some reason. "Although, it would be best to ask Leanbox's Mascot about her, as she spent most of her time in that Nation. All that I know of her is that she was a skilled Negatron user, just like yourself. Compared to her, your skills seem rather lacklustre at best."

Vent could only blink in surprise at this information. His mother, a Negatron user? That he didn't expect. Now that he thought about it, Vent hardly knew anything about his mom other than the fact that she left him Vier as a family heirloom, something he'd protected at all costs from his uncle's family. It seemed that she was connected to Gamindustri on a level that he couldn't have expected before, and his answers lay solely within the last Nation they needed to visit: Leanbox.

It made him.. well, he would be lying if he said he wasn't impatient to get to Leanbox as soon as possible. The mission with the CPUs would take higher priority however, as would the use of THAT, but if he got the chance then perhaps he could… inquire…

Shaking his head, Vent decided to put those thoughts to rest for the time being. For now, he should focus on getting the Lowee Mascot back to the seal and stopping ASIC. Those White Suits would be a big problem, one that only they would be able to deal with. Stepping away from the Lowee Mascot, which had its attention focused on his back for some reason, Vent rejoined the girls whom seemed to have returned their weapons and manuals to their inventories.

"Well, now that we have our gear, we should be heading out. Rom and Ram look like they're not showing, so we'll leave without them." IF suggested while placing a hand on her hip as she made her way towards the Entrance. "The Seal's back at that World Labyrinth, and we got a whole load of ass to kick over there. Can't keep em waiting, can we? Let's move it, ladies and Gent!"

"Yeah!"


	39. Chapter 39 - Combating Ghouls PT 1

**Chapter 39 Combating Ghouls pt 1**

The Party arrived at the beginning of the World Labrynth. Unlike before, they managed to find the elevator that Compa had found, using that to get up the many vines and rocks. They didn't want a repeat of what had happened to them earlier, no way no how. What was interesting was that the girls had been almost grimly silent, not having that usual cheer that they had in the past. Hell, even RED was silent, which was REALLY something. Vent figured that this was due to the fact they were going up against creatures that in the past either wrecked their shit, or they barely survived through the skin of their teeth.

Though, one thing that could also be a reason was because Broccoli had decided to join them on their Quest.

* * *

"I'm going too, Nyu."

"Are you sure? We're going into a super duper scary dungeon filled with those meanie Ghouls."

"There's strength in numbers. I can be very helpful, Nyu. Those Ghouls won't even see me coming, Nyu."

"You sound like you're sure of this, Broccoli. Looks like you put a lot of thought into this, huh? Was that why you spaced out before we left the city?"

"You got it Vent, Nyu."

"Well, if you're that headstrong about it, I guess we can take you along. No need to bite the hand that feeds us, right?"

* * *

That was their conversation in a nutshell.

Apparently, Broccoli was made of much sturdier stuff than even Vent had been expecting, for she showed little fear in going up against those Ghouls. Heck, even her Gema which she sat on to move about seemed like it wanted some payback in the form of blood. In the end, they decided to bring her along, said girl being tasked with holding onto the Mascot for them in case they were to get into combat. Knowing their luck, along with the fact that they were itching to use their new toys as well as the enemies that filled that Dungeon, kind of made them feel like that was going to happen no matter what.

Also along the way, Vent had been conversing with Rasen about THAT. Apparently, it was close to achieving 42% completion, thanks to the repeated use of his Kagune in the last few days. It was mostly used for training purposes, but to Vent he had felt… wrong, not using it like he used to, it felt like he was rejecting a vital part of himself. Not something that he would recommend to anyone, also it made him feel like Kaneki in the beginning of Tokyo Ghoul part 1. Before he was tortured by JASON, his weak self whom was trapped in an illusion created by his own self. There was no way that he was going to use it in this upcoming battle nonetheless though, and if he did it would only be as a last resort.

The Lowee Mascot had hit the nail on the head with its deduction of his intentions back when they were unboxing those new weapons of theirs. Vent had another purpose in mind for those weapons, and those girls. That purpose: to make sure they had a fighting chance should he run amok when IT finally manifested itself. When IT finally came, Vent knew that there would be a whole load of bloodshed, and he did not kid himself into hoping it would be just the enemy's blood. In THAT state, he doubted he'd recognise friend from foe, something that honestly scared him more than he would admit. The awful power of inanity would be his only guiding hand, not something he'd wish on anyone. Even now, while they were about to go into the lion's den, Vent could feel the hot grip of insanity trying to claw its way to the forefront of its mind, suppressed only by his lack of RC Cell activity.

From all that, Rasen had predicted that IT would manifest once he reached 50% completion.

Still, what IF had told him, same with the Lowee Mascot, resonated through his mind more than he'd care to mention. He often wondered just how much they knew about his situation. He wondered if he slipped up somewhere, if he revealed something that tipped them off to his true condition. However, for the life of him, Vent couldn't figure out if that actually happened or not.

"Whelp, looks like we have a breather so far." IF remarked, hands in her pockets as she looked around their surroundings warily. Her tone was laced with heavy suspicion, almost like a heavy weight that the others could feel just from her words alone. None of them disagreed with her, either, they weren't outright attacked yet, something that indicated that something was amiss.

RED decided to try and be the optimist though., as she hopped up and down on her spot with a grin on her features. "Heh, that's super, right? I mean, we get to have a free period of bonding as wifeys before we meet the big bad bosses." She chirped merrily, giggling afterwards as she attempted to jump onto Nepgear. However, the iron claw landed on her face, curtesy of both Vent and IF.

While she struggled in vain to break free from their combined grip, flailing about like a fish, Compa clutched a hand to her chest nervously, her eyes shining with anxiety as she too looked about. Just like her friend did. "This place… it gives me more heeby jeebies than it did before…" she trailed off anxiously, doing all she could to remain calm. Hell, she almost summoned her new Syringe to grip it for comfort, but she stopped herself before she could.

Indeed, the entire silence that dominated the Dungeon was unnerving. There wre no sounds of patrolling monsters, no sounds of life, nothing. It was like all forms of life had left this place, abandoned it to a desolate solitude. It left the Dungeon with this dark, eerie and creepy feeling to it that none of them particularly liked one bit. The World Labyrinth seemed so much… bigger, yet emptier, than when they last came here, that it almost felt like an entirely new Dungeon.

Creepy.

"Let's keep an eye out." Vent stated, releasing RED from his grip which prompted the brunette to do the same. RED gave a loud gasp as she dramatically went all 'Air, how I missed thee!' wile kneeling on one leg with her arms spread out as if to preach. "Just because the enemy isn't in sight doesn't mean that they aren't still here." He reminded them, taking a few sniffs as he pulled out and donned his Mask.

Needless to say, the girls shuddered in intimidation when he put that Mask on. It was one of the most intimidating things that they had ever seen, the male having explained that Ghouls like him had to wear Masks in order to blend in human society as Ghouls, hiding their human identities so they weren't hunted by the hunters. It was certainly a…. conflicting thought to process, but nonetheless it didn't detach from the intimidation factor that the Mask seemed to radiate constantly.

"Say, you can smell stuff, right? Like one of those pitbulls?" RED questioned, eyes filled with wonder as she recalled the One-Eyed Ghoul having enhanced senses. Vent wordlessly nodded to her, prompting the redhead to continue. "Then, can you smell anyone nearby?"

Humming in thought, Vent considered this option. "Hmm… I think I can try." He finally admitted, before he closed his eyes in order to focus on his other senses. "Let's see…" his nose twitched as he took short, quick sniffs of the air, trying to determine if there were any foreign scents that he could recognise as hostile.

"You know, its kind of cute when Vent does that…"

"You know it Iffy. Ven-Ven can be really cute when he wants to be."

"… Is it wrong for me to want to pet Vent right about now?"

"Vent is playing pitbull, Nyu. Its an interesting sight, Nyu."

All the while, he had to suppress his urge to yell at the girls behind him while blushing in embarrassment at being called cute. Good thing that his Mask hid his mild blush, as otherwise RED would probably try to tease him again, and this time he wasn't sure if he could hold his Kagune back from snapping her neck in half. He was NOT cute, but badass and possibly handsome! He didn't think of himself as that attractive, anyways, never had really. He thought of itself more as a monster that devoured other monsters, even before he truly became what he thought of himself.

"… !"

His eyes shot open wide behind his Mask, his form tensing as he swiftly switched Vier to Scythe Mode. The actions quickly garnered cautious reactions from the girls who summoned one weapon each, save for IF who summoned her new claws. Nepgear had her Yukihira in default mode, Compa her new syringe, RED her King Saw, while Broccoli sat on Gema with the Mascot in her arms. "What is it, Vent?!" the brunette yelled, getting into a combat stance. "Trouble?!"

"You bet your ass!"

After Vent responded with that, the group quickly scattered via jumping, avoiding a single, massive red Kagune Tentacle that launched itself at them from seemingly out of nowhere. The Tentacle slammed into the ground instead, smashing through it to create a large dust cloud, one that expanded over the soon-to-be battlefield. Behind his Mask, Vent quickly called out to the others, his tone laced with urgency. "Guys, you alright?!"

"A-OK, Ven-Ven!"

That was Compa's answer, and it lead to confirmations from the other girls, with the signature 'Nyu!' from Broccoli. "Good! Keep your guard up, we're about to be swarmed!" No sooner had he shouted that, did about 20 blackened figures dart through the smoke, quickly closing the distance between them and the Party. Vent quickly swung Vier in a diagonal slash, repeating the motion from the opposite direction before spinning into a horizontal slash, deflecting several thrusting motions from one of the said figures. It looked like he was being struck by 6 figures, leaving 14 to deal with the girls. With a few quick sniffs, he immediately recognised them as Ghouls, most likely white suits considering the circumstances.

'Tch! This must have been their plan!' The male thought with irritation, parrying several punches and kicks with expert Scythe handling before he found an opening to slash at 3 of them, knocking them back while he stabbed Vier into the ground to thrust himself into the air, flipping over a slide tackle a fourth Ghoul attempted before switching Vier to Gun Mode and bombarding the remaining two with meteor rounds. 'They blinded us with a smokescreen so we wouldn't see them coming!'

 **'Guess even the White Suits have brains, not just their freaking brawn, huh Master?'**

'Maybe!'

* * *

On their side, the girls weren't doing nearly as good as Vent was, and that was even counting their new weapons. Each of them had a number of Ghouls to deal with, and in IF's case, she was fighting four of them. Each of them also wielded a Bikaku Kagune too, the Tail-like appendages constantly whipping/slamming away at her while their wielders kept a distance from her.

'Tch, looks like we've got ourselves a little problem here!' the brunette tought, glancing to the side to see there was a Ghoul running towards her with his right fist cocked back for a right hook. IF Flexed her claws and quickly blocked it, surprising both of them when she felt little of the impact from her weapons. The Quinque must have absorbed the blows for her, reducing the overall striking power the Ghoul had to null. Nevertheless, she quickly capitalised on the opportunity and hopped into a front flip, planting both feet into the Ghoul's face to knock him to the ground.

Two Bikaku slammed down on her from above, forcing IF to cross her dual Quinques to in front of her to block them. The moment they hit, the impact was enough to send her smacking against the ground to elect a loud gasp from her. According to the Manual, these Quinque had the ability to nullify a Ghoul's physical strength, but it was less effective when a Kagune strike was involved. Even more so when she didn't have stable footing to help withstand the impact.

A fourth Ghoul jumped at her and came down for a body slam, and the Guild Agent swiftly rolled out of the way before she could get flattened. The resulting impact broke the ground where she once lay, making her thank the CPUs that she hadn't been there. That could have been her, after all. Using the momentum of her roll, IF got back to her feet and charged at the Ghoul, dodging several Kagune slashes. She'd observed this tactic before, 2 Ghouls rising ranged attacks while a small group went in for close combat to keep the opponent occupied.

As she got close, IF remembered something else that the Manual said about her dual Claws. It said that, while Magic can be applied to them to increase their power, her claws had an ability called 'Frenzy mode' which allowed them to pump the powers of the frenzy virus within them through her bloodstream. Apparently, the monster they based these claws off had the ability to emit a specialised virus to defend itself with. If the person was in combat for long enough, then the adrenaline would allow their bodies to master the virus and use it to increase their performance. What Frenzy mode did was similar, it would apply a specialised version of that virus into her, improving her combat ability for 3 minutes.

Whelp, what the hell, was she right?

'Frenzy Mode!' IF Called through her mind, as apparently these things responded to mental commands according to the Manual. It was soon proven true though, when the red areas on the Claws briefly shined red, before they darkened to an almost dark violet colour, and IF couldn't hold back the gasp at what followed.

FWOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

Her body soon became coated with a dark violet aura, which flared around her like a violent, raging fire. The brunette felt various purple and black tribal markings engrave themselves over her body, mostly her arms, legs and cheeks, her eyes changing colour to a dark violet with a black sclera.

Power flooded every cell in her body, and the brunette found herself moving much faster than she had before. Faster than Neptune would have eaten pudding after being starved of it for a week. She closed the distance between the recovering Ghoul, whom had just gotten up from his previous attack before she shoulder tackled him, knocking him down. Reaching down, IF grabbed the White Suit by the back of his right calf, before using the boosted strength of Frenzy Mode to spin on her own two heels, tossing the Ghoul into one of the ones striking from long range. The satisfying sound of pained grunts reached her ears to signal that her attempt had succeeded.

Twisting on her heel, IF poured as much strength as she could into it as she bent her leg, and then jumped into the air. This allowed her to avoid the Bikaku lunge that would have pierced her through the gut, as she flipped forwards and came back down on the Ghoul with an overhead heel to his head. The Ghoul raised his arms to block it, and her foot collided with them, releasing a shockwave through the air. However, IF wasn't done yet, as she raised her other heel and brought it down, using the power of Frenzy Mode to enhance her heel enough to utterly SHATTER the Ghoul's defences. Her heel slammed into the Ghoul's head, knocking the living daylights out of him as he was slammed into the ground from the force of her attack.

Upon her landing on the ground, IF sensed that the fourth Ghoul was already on the move, racing towards her like a bloodthirsty bull. She gritted her teeth in a frenzied snarl, her eyes shining with fiery wrath as she twisted on her heel and, just before the Ghoul was within striking distance, launched a roundhouse kick that slammed into the Ghoul's head with the force of a 1300 Megaton sledgehammer. IF couldn't help the wide smirk spreading across her features at the oh so satisfying sound of bones cracking under the force of her Kick. Ghoul physiology may be greater than the average monster's, but even it would be hard pressed against a Frenzy Mode-empowered kick, it seemed.

One side-effect that the Frenzy Mode had was that it made her much more aggressive and animalistic in the duration that she used it. It heightened her every sense, as well as her instincts and the war-like nature of the human species. One could say that it awakened the normally recessive warrior genes in women that make men as violent as they were in society, only it would go a step further and enhance it to the point where there wasn't much difference between the user and a wild, bloodthirsty animal.

Still though, that was more than enough of a payoff for finally getting a chance to smack a Ghoul's face in. She couldn't wait to finally get a shot at that Tatara guy, she still owed him some payback for what he did to her.

But for now, she'd deal with these scumbags first.

"Alright, fuckers!" IF yelled, laughing as she jumped towards her prey. Her darkened Quinque claws gleamed menacingly as she fprepared to deal the death blow. "Let's finish this!"

* * *

Compa was not having a good day.

"Eep!" a frightened squeak escaped her lips as she ducked under a shower of Shards sent her way by her opponents. Out of the 10 remaining Ghouls, Compa had to deal with 3, a little less than IF had to with 4, but still quite formidable for a Nurse like her. It didn't help that 2 of them were Ukaku types while the third was a Koukaku type. Because of the smokescreen, she couldn't see what their exact shapes were, but it was enough to identify their types. She just had to remember what Vent had told her about each type.

The sole Koukaku Ghoul ran at her while she was distracted, swinging his Kagune at her head. Compa gave a startled yelp as she fell onto her backside, barely avoiding getting her head chopped off. Looking up, she paled when she saw the Ghoul's Kagune, which had a Scimitar sword-like structure now that she got a better look at it, raised to give her the killing blow.

Panic and fear settled in, and her natural instincts got triggered. Everything has a fight or flight response, its ingrained within both humans and animals. The decision to fight or flee in a tough situation. When animals are cornered by their predators, this response is triggered so that they form one last ditch effort to pull off a victory. It was a similar situation if a wounded fighter was facing defeat at the hands of another fighter. Thanks to her profession and personality, Compa never really had to deal with something like this, thus she never got the chance to activate this response.

Now though, she HAD to if she wanted to live…

And she wanted to live, thank you very much!

With that, the result became inevitable, and out of instinctual need to survive, Compa raised her syringe, pressed the button till the fire symbol showed up, and pulled the trigger. From the tip of her Syringe, a large burst of pure hot fire exploded outwards, a bullet encased in the stuff shooting out into the Ghoul's chest with the force of a missile. The Ghoul gave a loud, bone-chilling scream of agony as he fell onto his back, rolling about as he desperately tried to put out the flames while his body pushed out the flaming bullet.

This little manoeuvre shocked the other two Ghouls into silence, the raging battles around them continuing on like they didn't even hear them. Sounds of clashing blades, swinging Kagunes and furious war cries roared around them, almost muffling the screams that their comrade was making. It would be next to impossible for anyone else besides them to notice what was happening.

Meanwhile, Compa could only think back to when she was reading that Manual of hers. Apparently, each of those symbols on her Syringe, they represented a different ability that her bullets could inflict on the enemy. Not just elemental ability either, more like status ailments but WAY stronger than what normal adventurers were used to. Also more diverse:

Bomb – blast, basically makes the bullets explode on contact with large damage.

Purple Bubble – poison, self-explanatory

Lightning bolt, - paralysis, again self-explanatory

Icicles – slow, slow enemies down

Red claws – bleeding, shoots bullets so fast that it causes large wounds to form, making the enemy bleed constantly.

That last one seemed particularly vicious to her, so she didn't think she'd be using it very often. It felt like a direct contradiction to her role as a Nurse. She was supposed to heal wounds, not create potentially lethal ones.

Getting up, Compa remembered what Vent once did to Underling back in Lowee, how he struck her once her guard was down. It didn't seem very nice, but then again, these Ghouls weren't nice people either. So, was it really that bad to hurt them? They would do much worse to her, and heck they almost did to poor Broccoli. Thus, with those thoughts in her mind, Compa raised her Syringe, switched to the paralysis symbol, before unloading several shots onto the Ghouls at the rear. The Ghouls, barely regaining their composure in time, tried to didge them but their Ukaku Kagunes took the hits instead. This made them cringe, sparks instantly flying from where the bullets hit as their Kagunes became unable to move. They constantly rattled about, sparks flying from them as their wielders tried to make them fire Shards, only to fail.

Switching to the bomb symbol, Compa held her Syringe like a sniper rifle, her eyes hardening with determination. This may be something she wouldn't do normally but these Ghouls deserved it for what they did to Broccoli. Her own injuries and Iffy's at their hands also helped in her decision as she slowly pulled the trigger…

And fired.

* * *

On her end, RED was on cloud nine right now as she fought against two Rinkaku Ghouls. She held her King Saw in a defensive stance as she parried one Tentacle slam after another. Her opponents kept at a distance, so it was hard for her to get in close, but RED didn't mind as King Saw was strong enough to parry their Kagune strikes with ease. It felt like a much needed dose of calm after so long of fretting over how she would be useful in battles like these.

It all started after that first confrontation with that Seidou character. That meanie was so cruel, yet so easily dispatched her like she was nothing but an insect to him. In a way, she was, and RED hated that. By the time she was facing him again in the Lowee Global Expo Dungeon with her friends, she thought it'd be easier to fight him now that she knew what to expect from him, but sadly enough that was not the case one bit. In the end, she had to watch as her Wifeys and Vent fought against both Seidou and the Ghoulified Underling to a standstill until they retreated.

RED disliked being useless to her wifeys. She disliked it very much. A good husband was supposed to protect her wifeys, wasn't she? How could she protect her wifey harem when she couldn't even protect herself? That had been a question that pounded away at her mind ever since those two battles started. And when they fought against Yamori and his white suits, it all but drove home the point that would answer her question: she couldn't. She would never be able to protect her wifeys with her current arsenal, not with the way she wielded toy weapons. They may be able to strike against normal monsters easily, and to some extent the Abnormals too, but compared to Ghouls they were little more than toothpicks.

Now though…

Thanks to Vent's foreseight, she was now armed with weapons that COULD do what she had been trying to do for so long ever since the first battle against Seidou: protect her wifeys. She could damage those Ghouls now, she could defend herself against those Kagune of theirs. One could say that it was almost euphoric for her, this feeling of elation, of freedom. This freedom of ability that she now had.

Her thoughts got broken by a pair of Tentacles rushing towards her with the intent of impaling her in the gut. RED reacted swiftly, swinging King Saw and deflecting one, while pivoting her foot around the other. She then jumped on top the Tentacle she dodged, using it to leap towards the Ghouls and raised King Saw for an overhead slash. Bringing the weapon down, the redhead saw her opponents dodge her strike by jumping to opposite sides.

That didn't matter to RED though. The fact that they had to dodge meant they didn't want her hitting them. The fact that they didn't want her hitting them meant that they knew she could damage them now. This was elation at its finest, and dare she say it, it almost rivalled getting a kiss or a gesture of affection from her chosen wifeys.

She decided to switch weapons, having learned that her Choker device responded to mental commands like her Inventory did. She saw how King Saw reverted to Datastreams that went into her Choker, and afterwards more came out of it. But this time, they went to BOTH of her hands, soon taking solid shapes. In the end, she possessed a pair of dual swords. They had metal hilts, but they also had bone-like guards shaped like that of Nepgear's Yukihira Nagata, as in they were larger than the hilt. The bone guards extended down the metallic shaft-like pieces, with simple pike-like tips. From those shafts, protruded large Axe blades for slashing.

Holding them in a ready position, oddly reminiscent of IF's stance when she still used her Qatars, RED dashed towards her opponents. Back when they were training, IF wasn't the only one developing her skills. RED herself had also been training to develop Skills that she could call her own. Skills that she could say that only the RED in THIS Fanfiction could say she used in this adventure. IF wasn't the only one who didn't want to get let behind after all, how could she call herself a Wifey seeker if she was too weak to protect those she called wifeys?

Thus, RED decided to put one of her newly developed Skills to good use: " Have a taste of my new power, you meanies! WIFEY RAZOR!" she bellowed as her blades, plus her body, became encased in a crimson aura. Her form became a blur as she appeared right behind one of the Ghouls, raising her dual blades to do several slashes at high speeds. Multiple diagonal ones, plus a horizontal one and finally a vertical one. Afterwards, RED ended by dashing right past the Ghoul, stopping when she was about 10 feet in front of him with her back turned, kneeling on one leg and her arms thrown backwards in a V shape. The next second, the Ghoul became the victim of a dozen or so slashes, each one appearing on the un-slashed areas on his body.

A loud roar escaped the Ghoul's buddy, whom had his Kagune lunge forth to spear her through the back and out the chest. However, RED wouldn't let that happen as she twisted on her feet, switching weapons once again. This time, she held her new weapon in both hands, its appearance being a mix of pistol and hammer. The Deadeye Revolver, it was a hammer that had a pistol's canister, safety lock and trigger as its end. The hammer was coloured a bright golden colour. It was more than just looks that made it a 'Gunhammer' in RED's eyes, too, something that would be shown in the next few moments.

As the Rinkaku approached her with the fury of its wielder propelling it, RED swung her little Gunhammer towards it. Time seemed to slow down as the two weapons neared each other, like a pair of titans that were about to do epic battle till the horn of judgement day would sound. The two weapons gradually got nearer, and nearer, and nearer. The atmosphere was so tense, so tense that it threatened to erupt like confetti.

Finally…. They collided.

BOOM!

… And from her Deadeye Revolver Gunhammer, RED saw a human sizes explosion of gunpowder explode from the Canister section. Apparently, her Gunhammer had the ability to release explosive bursts of Gunpowder whenever it hit something, causing major external and internal damage to whomever it hit. It also increased the Hammer's Striking power, something that the redhead immensely liked. She couldn't wait to smack a few Ghouls in the face with this baby.

That wasn't all it could do however.

Spinning a full 360 Degrees, RED activated another Skill of hers, the end of her Gunhammer glowing brightly in a crimson aura. "Hehehehe, have a taste of my BLAST STRIKE!" she bellowed, swinging her Gunhammer like a golf club. During the point in the swing where it was parallel to the ground, the gunpowder within the weapon ignited, the swing sending a large fiery blast towards her enemy.

She saw the Rinkaku bundle up in front of her enemy to protect him, the blast hitting the Kagune full on. Without waiting to see what the result was, RED quickly did another BLAST STRIKE, but this time she aimed at the ground behind her in a reverse back swing. The following blast erupted against the ground, launching RED high into the air above.

At the apex of her jump, RED was seen sitting on her Gunhammer's shaft like a witch would on her broomstick. When she began to fall back down to the ground, she once again triggered the Gunhammer's gunpowder ignition ability, this time manually to send her swooping down with her form spinning like a wheel. Just as the Ghoul pulled his Kagune back, he looked up to see the business end of RED's Gunhammer near his face…

BOOM!

* * *

On her end, Nepgear held her own as she faced off against the remaining 5 Ghouls, Broccoli sitting on Gema not far behind her. The remaining 5 Ghouls each were Koukaku Ghouls, she knew because she remembered what Vent had told them about a Ghoul's RC Type, and most of theirs seemed to form blade-like weapons anyways. Some had shields though, so in reality there were 4 Ghouls who had dual blades, while the fifth held a sword/shield combo.

She held her Yukira in Sword Mode, the metal Katana faced against her enemy. Honestly, she felt like her sister would at this moment, since her HDD form wielded a Katana similar to this one. However, unlike that Katana, the Yukihira Nagata could turn into the 'Sabre Mode' at a push of a button. That put it more in her field of expertise, especially since she had discovered that the weapon was actually powered by Share Energy. The energy her HDD form was also powered by. The blade's Sabre Mode however, highly drained her reserves when activated, and when deactivated the energy didn't return to her, so she had to be careful when switching modes.

2 Ghouls raced towards her, breaking into mad sprints with their feet making loud stomping sounds as they went. They moved in a zigzag pattern in an attempt to disorient the CPU Candidate, before one of them hopped into a spinning slash to her face. Nepgear quickly raised her Yukihira to block it, her legs nearly buckling from the impact the Kagune made while the ground cracked under the pressure. She gritted her teeth as the two pushed against each other, before she noticed the second one coming in for a beheading slash.

Instantly, she broke the deadlock and jumped back to dodge the slash, but only by a hair. She landed on the ground, sliding to a halt before raising Yukihira to block two sashes to her face simultaneously. In the next second, Nepgear found herself bombarded with slashes and thrusts made by her opponents. No second was wasted, and she could not find any opening to strike back. 'Ugh, tch, ugh! This is bad!' she thought as she barely kept up with her opponents.

In the end, she took a gamble and stepped forth, going right within one Ghoul's guard. This obviously caught him and his buddy by surprise, something that Nepgear utilized to her advantage as she swung upwards, cutting off one of the Koukaku blades the Ghoul possessed. She didn't stop there and quickly spun into a reverse slash wioth the back of the blade, hitting the screaming Ghoul in the head before she went and activated LILIAC OVERDRIVE, disappearing from view to avoid the other Ghoul.

Appearing across the battlefield where the sword/shield Ghoul was, Nepgear didn't give her opponent a chance and unleashed a MIRAGE DANCE, swiftly cutting the Ghoul with Yukihira before dashing past him, finalising her Skill. Immediately afterwards she swung Yukihira all around her, launching a 360 degree SLASH WAVE that sent her enemies flying backwards. Using Skills was one thing, changing the METHOD of using them was another. That was another technique that Nepgear had been developing, the ability to change how her Skill worked so that they could be more versatile. Ever since she first fought Tatara she had learned that she would have to be as diverse in her arsenal as possible.

Glancing behind her, Nepgear saw the first two Ghouls charging at her, the one she severed the blade arm from having regenerated it completely. She refused to let them get close again however, as she quickly threw her free hand out to them. From that moment on, the two Ghouls froze in place, unable to move like there was some invisible force restraining them.

Nepgear lifted her hand upwards, and like they were puppets the two Ghouls levitated into the air too. She then moved her hand towards one of the still-downed Ghouls, sending the ones in the air towards him to keep him down. This technique, she called 'SHARE FORCE' in which she used her share energy to create and bend energy fields around her targets according to her will. Vent once told her about a series called 'Star Wars' where people manipulated energy fields to their will, and the inspiration allowed her to create a technique similar to it.

The sword/shield Ghoul staggered back to his feet, though he didn't look so hot. Apparently regeneration varied from Ghoul to Ghoul, and this one was on the lower end of that spectrum. Nepgear's hard eyes briefly darkened, a flash of pity entering her heart at the sight. Seeing a thoroughly weakened enemy like this it still touched her. Maybe she was soft but she didn't like needless violence. "You should stay down." she advised, holding Yukihra by her side. "I don't think you'll last longer at this rate."

In response, the Ghoul just snarled at her, raising his Kagune into a battle stance. He then dashed towards her, making her sigh and shake her head in disappointment. "Then, I apolofgise for having to do this..." she muttered under her breath, before she raised her right hand and pumped Share Energy into the atmosphere. "SHARE STORM!"

All around them erupted in a silvery white light. The area looked like it was encased in the insides of a fierce storm, with pure white lightning arcing across the space above while striking everything seemingly at random. However, if one looked closely they would see that Nepgear wasn't injured, while her enemies looked like they were burning up. Their bodies radiated steam as they were burned by the Skill faster than their bodies could regenerate. SHARE STORM was an ability she developed when Vent told her about a game called StarCraft, where some of the characters in the game had the ability to warp in a massive storm of 'psionic energy'. She just replicated that ability to use as her own.

"I won't let any of you have your way!" Nepgear shouted, her eyes slowly turning into power button symbols as she held Yukihira defensively. All the while, her opponents slowly got to their feet, although they did indeed struggle. The battle wasn't over yet, that was what they were thinking even as their bodies burned from the effects of her SHARE STORM. "I'll make sure to rescue my sister!" she yelled, before charging forth to continue the battle.

* * *

In the end, the Ghouls had no chance as they were soundly defeated by the girls. When they were defeated instead of just vanishing into particles like other Abnormal monsters, the party observed how tey just seemed to... vanish, in a flash of black light. Noticeably different from normal monsters as well as Abnormals, huh?

"Did any of you see that... or is it just me?" RED questioned as she heaved her Gunhammer onto her shoulder. When the others gae her looks, looks that spoke volumes about their response, the redhead wifey hunter gve a relieved sigh. "Whew, so its not just me."

'Rasen... I don't know what this energy is, but that light that appeared when the Ghouls vanished... I don't know, but it felt evil for some reason.' Vent thought while the Party regrouped after that battle. It was one of the toughest battles so far, and there would likely be even tougher foes up ahead. The thought of facing Seidou again filled their minds, especially RED's, while Vent hoped that he didn't have to fight Yamori.

 **'Hmmm, that energy... it feels similar to that of that Robot we killed, what was his name again? Oh yeah, Judge. Maybe the leaders of ASIC have a connection to the Ghouls being here, huh?'**

'Maybe...'

Nepgear looked at everyone individually for a moment, before she asked them all in a concerned, but strong voice. "Is everyone alright?" the others all gave confirmations tat they were alright, and like a mask being dropped Nepgear's shoulders slumped as she heaved a heavy sigh. "Whew, what a relief. I was worried that we wouldn't get out of tat without casualties. I'm so glad that's not the case."

"True, that was some battle..." IF admitted as she flexed her clawed hands. The woman didn't show it, but the exhaustion of having to activate Frenzy Mode did take its toll on her. She only used it for what, a minute, and the effects were enough to nearly cause her to lose her cool demeanor. "And to think, those guys were likely the weaker ones sent out here to test us. Its common bad guy logic to send the small fry to test out the enemy waters before sending in the big boys." she commented, everyone shuddering at the thought. They could actually see the Ghouls doing something like that, only when it concerned the Ghouls it seemed much more deadly since they had the bite to back their bark.

While this battle was theirs, imagine what it would have been like if they hadn't trained... they wouldn't have stood a chance.

That thought sent chills down their spines.

Nepgear then went and brought up everyone's morale, as she pumped a fist in front of her with a determined expression on her face. "Well, we won this battle, but the war's just ahead guys! Lets keep going forwards, we have a Seal to re-capture!"

A unified "Yeah!" came from the rest of them.

All the while, IF couldn't help the prideful smirk on her lips as she watched Planeptune's CPU Candidate motivate the others. "Gear's getting much better at acting like a proper leader..." she commented casually.

The only one who heard her, aside from Vent who gave a loopsided smirk which was hidden behind his jacket's sleeve, was Compa who beamed in agreement. "Yup!" she quipped, bobbing her head up and down. "It must be from all that training Ge-Ge's going through. It must be working wonders on her confidence."

"Well, she better keep it up, I don't wanna have to smack some sense into her if she trips now." IF remarked, frowning as the group began to journey on while ignoring the knowing giggle from Compa's lips. She may say that, but if it came down to it IF would do whats he did back in the Virtua Forest... minus the kissing part, that was embarrassing beyond all hell.

With that, the Party made their way deeper into the World Labyrinth.


	40. Chapter 40 - Combating Ghouls PT2

**Chapter 40 - Combating Ghouls PT2**

After the Ghouls perished the way they did, and the Party moved on after Nepgear went about motivating them a little bit, things never got easier for them. In fact, it wouldn't be too surprising to say that battle had been the 'calm before the storm' and lead them along a domino of surprise attacks. Attacks that consisted of Ghouls and only Ghouls, more specifically the White Suits. No signs of normal or Abnormal Monsters had been detected, meaning that the Ghouls ad likely devoured every one of them in this entire Dungeon. Not a promising prospect for what'll happen if they were caught, huh?

In any case, the hectic search only got increasingly perilous. Like IF had predicted, the Ghouls launched wave after wave of fierce attack waves. None of these attacks would let up in their intensity, giving them a good workout for their weapons. That was practically the only good thing about those attacks, as it allowed them to get better grips on their weapons, but still those annoyances hounded at them from every angle possible. They'd even attacked both directly and indirectly, setting up traps with their Kagune to strike at them when they least expected it.

Luckily for them, Vent could sense the Kagune's presence using his own Ghoulish abilities, something the teen had recalled researching about after reading a Manga Chapter where Hinami (the teen still felt the sting from the knowledge that in this world, her counterpart had been killed by Yamori.) had used her Ghoulish senses to pinpoint Donato's position. According to him, detachable Kagunes emit a special signal that only Ghouls could hear. This signal allows them to remain connected to their users till they dissipate from a deficit of RC Cells. Vent himself couldn't help but be surprised at this development, though only he and Rasen knew of it considering. According to the TG wiki, Kagune signals weren't shown to be more than one way, in fact there's little know n about this particular ability. Why did he know something like this, perhaps? Well, he'd attribute it to his manga knowledge combined with present circumstances.

Throughout the entire time they traversed, he could sense his Ghoul side getting restless.

It probably didn't help that the Ghouls kept the party on their toes.

Nevertheless, they'd came here to do a job, and that was what they would do. No intervention would stop them from accomplishing their goal, if they got scared by every little thing then they wouldn't have come as far as they had.

* * *

After one particular sneak attack from the Ghouls, the party decided to have a small break, much to the dismay of Lowee's Mascot, although it didn't voice anything to do with its complaints. Mostly because of how it could see the logic behind such a move. After so many battles non-stop, it would only make sense for them to be tired as all fuck. Honestly, the moment that the Ghouls paused their onslaught was the moment the Party collectively exhaled in sweet relief. Broccoli sat atop an uprooted block. The World Labyrinth Dungeon proved to be a rather perilous place with all these Ghouls about, she'd noticed, though she didn't voice anything about it. She didn't need to, not when the Party could clearly tell this. "Is it just me, or do we seem to be getting attacked more often?" she asked them. That was somethings she'd noticed though, apparently the Ghouls attacking them came in greater numbers the further they went into the Dungeon, that was what she theorized.

After she dismissed her Claws back into her Inventory, IF furrowed her brows as she glanced throughout the Dungeon. Her eyes shone with a cautious light, a perfect indication of her current mood at the moment. These attacks were getting more and more frequent, that she could agree with the small girl. "Yeah, noticed that too myself. My guess would be that we're nearing the Seal. Though this path doesn't look all that familiar." She remarked.

Thanks to their initial fighting, the Party had unfortunately had to take a detour through a separate path through the Dungeon. It wouldn't have been discovered if RED hadn't exactly slammed her Gunhammer down on a Ghoul's head, losing her footing and falling on some hidden switch. An accidental salvation, was what Vent had labelled it, for as they walked down it none of them had been attacked by Ghoulish aggression even once, not only that but they seemed to be making much more headway than they had been before, likely due to not being beset by Ghouls every so often anymore.

Still didn't mean they could let their guard down though.

Right now, the Party were in the centre of a rather narrow pathway, blocky walls on either side of them. Vent had to release a breath of exasperation on that one. Seriously, even though he'd adjusted himself quite a bit to this world, sometimes he still got baffled by how much like a videogame Gamindustri was like. There were larger hills on either side, looming over the walls like towering giants. Honestly, it reminded him somewhat of Tetris back in his world, the blocky settings with the boxes arranged into various shapes and sizes. Was it just him, or did some of these blocks look… suspiciously arranged to look like blocky versions of specific characters from Tokyo Ghoul?

Maybe he was imagining it, but still…

'Nope, no matter how much I try not to think about it, those formations just keep bugging me…' The teenage Hybrid thought with a frown. Not to mention, this linier passageway looked deserted, almost TOO deserted for his liking. His instincts screamed at him to stay cautious, or better yet turn back, however he ignored that last part. If push comes to shove and they get attacked, they'd just have to deal with it. There was no other way around it, Ghouls wouldn't let their prey get away and they'd come too far to turn back now. Not only that but if they did flee then they'd likely never get another chance like this to re-take the Mascot's Seal. That thought made him grip the hilt of Vier's Sword Mode tighter, his Ghoul strength nearly straining the Metal the weapon was made from.

The teen didn't notice the slightly worried look that Nepgear sent his way, nor the concerned looks RED and IF gave him.

Soon enough, the Mascot interjected into the conversation, a sense of urgency in its voice. "We must hurry. The Seal may not be active for much longer. My senses warn me of an incoming danger ahead of us, it would be wise of us to be ready for anything." It informed them while Broccoli, knowing they'd be moving again soon, switched her seating place from the block to her Gema. Said creature purred happily at the familiar contact before it bounced over to the rest of them.

Meanwhile, the Party's leader chose to speak up as she regarded the Mascot's state of being. "The Mascot's right, we have to get a move on." Nepgear stated, nodding in resolution. Though if one looked, they could see that there was a hidden nervousness in her eyes, something she covered under a layer of bravado born from leadership. It didn't help that she had her signature nervous tick which was her hand clutched over her chest. Like the Mascot said, she too could sense something in the distance. Her powers as a CPU Candidate were the cause, and whatever it was had a sinister vibe to it unlike what they'd already encountered.

* * *

The sounds of uncoordinated footsteps echoed throughout the dungeon as the Party travelled down the pathway, which went slightly downwards indicating that it would lead them deeper into the Dungeon. None of them voiced it, but each of them (save for the more naive and childish members) couldn't help their suspicions. Something like this seemed too good to be true for them, but then again if it weren't for RED's clumsiness they wouldn't have found it before. Hell, they probably wouldn't have found it back then either, since A: they'd been recovering from the humiliation Compa unintentionally caused them with that elevator stunt (who the hell thought of installing an elevator, and how the hell did they do it?) and B: they'd been fleeing from an onslaught of Ghoulish aggression so it wouldn't make sense for them to notice anything specific.

Even so, Vent still just couldn't help but be on edge. In fact, he figured that out of them all he was the one on edge the most thanks to his animalistic instincts. It felt similar to a Ghoul attack, but upon sniffing the air the teen couldn't find any Scents close by. 'I can't detect anything… but… Why do I still feel so guarded? I can't stop the feeling of being watched…' he thought, glancing throughout the area. His senses just kept ringing, ad his Ghoul side refused to settle down. It made his movements more tense, defensive, like an animal wary of travelling along a path unfamiliar to it for fear of unknown hostiles in the vicinity.

Not only that, but there was this… intensity in the air, an ominous atmosphere that settled upon them like a heavy weight on their shoulders. It was so thick, so anxiety-inducing that normal people would have frozen under the pressure. Ironically, it was their past experience in combatting Ghouls and other Abnormals that helped the Party push through this tension. Those monsters helped them without even realising it, a fact that made some of them sick to their stomachs while the rest tried not to think about it.

'Somethings wrong here… Something's very wrong, but what? Ugh! This is so irritating!' Vent raged within his mind, it hadn't taken him long but his fuse was shot thanks to all this tension. The fact that his instincts were awake and LIVID right now from all the ambushes they'd dealt with didn't help matters. 'All this tension's making me wanna break something! Something happen already, goddamnit!'

… Ever heard of Murphy's Law?

SWOOOOOOSH!

BOOM!

Whelp, it just came to say hello.

"OH SHIT!" A startled exclamation tore from Vent's lips, everyone else including him jumping backwards like their lives depended on it. Good thing they did too, for not a nanosecond afterwards, something large and red try to slam into the space where they once stood from above. It created a massive booming sound, as well as a shockwave that blew the Party further back, and a dust cloud to shield its form from view. Each of them landed in their own ways, Vent and IF landed in crouched stances, sliding across the ground till they halted. Compa and RED fell onto their backsides, slight exclamations escaping their lips at the contact, while Nepgear transformed into her HDD Form out of instinct. Vent hadn't been the only one affected by the tension, it seemed.

"Now THAT'S what I'd call an ambush!"

"Not exactly the time, RED!"

Dust rolled across the ground along with the sounds of crumbling debris. These sounds gradually lessened over time, but that didn't relieve the Party's worries in the least. It went without saying, but this definitely felt like a Ghoul attack. They seemed to prefer ambushes and surprise attacks via Kagune launching, resulting in them keeping an eye and ear out for any red flashes or crackling sounds. For they were the tell-tale signs of a Kagune about to go on the offensive. Nepgear knew this the most aside from Vent, she and him DID train together the most, after all. All of them peered into the smoke while their hearts hammered away against their ribcages. Even with how they'd been through so many ambushes already, the Ghouls always gave them the jump scares when they did. Nepgear once wondered how their nerves hadn't been shot yet from all these surprises, though those thoughts quickly became moot with their current situation.

Once the dust settled, the Party began to see the faint outline of a figure slowly manifest within. It seemed to have an appendage out, swaying back to the space behind it like it was a Tail. 'Probably a Bikaku…' Vent thought to himself, and it didn't take a glance to the others to know that they were thinking the same thing. While they didn't have as much experience with Ghoul RC Types like he did, the girls weren't idiots either… well, complete idiots anyways, they did have their moments. 'Though I'm open to a Rinkaku Kagune, its always difficult to tell with those two since their connection points are so close together.' He recalled the places where the Rinkaku and Bikaku protrude from the Tailbone and the back of the waist. Both were so close to each other that it made disconcerting them quite difficult, at least in his opinion.

Gradually the figure became more… solid, if that made any sense, to the point where the figure seemed to have a solid masculine gender. Vent had to think to himself at that moment, there were so many Ghoul males in the Tokyo Ghoul franchise, with few female Ghouls. Why the heck were more male Ghouls featured there, or was he just looking into that a little too much? Probably, cause the few females that he DID know of were a bunch of pretty scary badasses that would have no problem wrecking his shit if he were to ever meet them.

Finally, the dust settled completely… but as it did so, Vent's eyes gradually bulged till they threatened to fall out their sockets at the full appearance of the attacker before them.

'N-No…'

There were many Ghouls that were considered to be extremely powerful in the Manga, especially with the sequel, Tokyo Ghoul Re. There was, of course, the protag Kaneki Ken, whose Half Ghoul status easily granted him an edge, along with his intelligence from reading loads of books. There was Roma, she'd been a surprising one with her Kakuja and how it royally fucked shit up, Nishiki, Tatara, Kuro, there have simply been dozens of Ghouls whose powers were easily above A Rank according to CCG Classification. These Ghouls would require the co-operation of Special Class Investigators, who lead their own Squads, to take down and even then they would be tough fights.

The Ghoul in front of them?

He was one of those Ghouls…

And they were FAR from matching the training and structure of a Squad of Investigators. Or 'Doves' as the Ghouls called them.

The Ghoul in front of them had a…. uniqueness to him in that he didn't wear a hockey mask and a white suit. Instead, this was an eerie giant of a Ghoul, easily reaching over 6 feet 5. He had long, black hair tied up in a ponytail that reached just below the shoulders. The Ghoul wore a white mask featuring huge black lips, a huge mouth with equally massive teeth and tiny slits for nostrils. His fingernails were black, much like those of a pre-time skip Kaneki in Tokyo Ghoul part 1. Vent knew that from the second part, which he doubted with his part 1 appearance to be any difference, that his eyes and mouth looked hollow, like the man had been mummified yet still walked among the living. Creepy as hell, and one big mess of horror that just kept on giving. He could easily imagine this guy giving the girls, especially Rom and Ram if they were here, nightmares for weeks on end. Nothing against them, but if they knew how terrifying this guy was, they'd do the wise thing and book it.

"Shit… he's here…" Vent murmured under his breath, resisting the urge to curse up to the heavens above. Mostly because this wasn't his world and the deities there actually were captured, so they wouldn't hear him anyways.

 **'…** **Wow, master, that's kinda morbid even by our standards… I love it!'**

'Not now, Rasen! Kinda in the middle of cursing every deity in existence here…'

However, the male saw how Nepgear had been able to hear him, something he found out when she looked to him in confusion, tilting her head in a manner that, in different circumstances, would have made him think she looked super adorable. "Huh? You know this one?" she asked him.

Before he could answer, IF rolled her eyes at the purple haired CPU Candidate, a hand on her hip. "You shouldn't be so shocked, Gear. Guy's like our dictionary when it comes to these guys." She told the girl, getting a sheepish laugh from her. Yeah, she kinda forgot about that, even after all this time, silly her. Looking away from the CPU Candidate for now, IF turned her gaze back to Vent with a look of grim serious. "So what's this guy's deal?"

Vent made to open his mouth to answer, but then he noticed that this Ghoul had already made his move to attack, one which he realised that he only had a couple seconds to act before it was too late. "Oh shit, move!" the teen yelled, instinctually summoning 2 Rinkaku Tentacles to grab IF and Nepgear, moving them to his opposite side just as a large tail-like appendage slammed into the space where they once stood.

'Shit, his Bikaku's faster than it was in the Manga…' the teen could only think as they all got a look at the Kagune the Ghoul used. This Kagune was a very thick, lamprey-like Kagune, with a maw filled with long, fat-looking fangs on the end that allowed it to cannibalise flesh. Vent knew this thanks to him being a Tokyo Ghoul nerd, but the others didn't which was why he had risked using his own Kagune to get them out of harms' way. He liked his companions whole, thank you very much. "This rude fellow's called Noro, he's an SS rate Ghoul, and is considered one of the strongest Ghouls aside from several others." He explained briefly, remembering both Eto the One Eyed Owl, and Shachi. AKA Matasaka Kamishiro, a strong ghoul, well-versed in the martial arts. When he was the leader of the ghouls in the 6th ward, he trained and strengthened his followers, making him no slouch on the battlefield.

The Bikaku Kagune that the newly identified 'Noro' possessed suddenly lunged at them again, this time enlarging its tip to try and swallow all of them whole. This time, all of the Party scattered across the area, swiftly avoiding the appendage before it could snack on their flesh. They ended up surrounding the Ghoul on multiple sides, with RED, Compa and Nepgear on one side, Vent, IF, Broccoli and the Mascot on the other.

"Hey, no attacking while we're in a monologue!" RED yelled with a slight flush on her cheeks from the surprise attack, flailing her arms like a child having a tantrum while she brandished her Gunhammer threateningly. "You're breaking the rules!"

Compa could only smile weakly at the red haired wifey seeker. A sweat drop formed on the back of her head while she could only comment just as weakly as her smile. "I'm pretty sure that Ghouls don't play by the rules…" she said, remembering how much they had been ambushed up until this point. Seemed like RED had a short term memory or something... not something she found hard to believe, knowing how she was. "Anyways, wat should we do?"

"You girls go on ahead."

"EH?!" Nepgear, RED and IF exclaimed, while Compa and Broccoli looked at Vent with white eyes. They had expected him to have some form of attack plan, and maybe he did, but that didn't sound like a plan to them! He just LITERALLY told them to leave him behind while they go on ahead with the Mascot. Their reaction? Whelp, one could say it was as obvious as a mirror was transparent. "No way, we can't just leave you like that!"

A low frustrated growl escaped his lips as Vent scratched the side of his head, before he glanced to the others with a sharp, blade-like look in his eyes. A gaze that caused the girls to wince at the intensity burning within them like the Negatron that he commanded. "Look girls, one of us has to stay and keep Noro occupied, trust me when I say that he can kill all of you without lifting a finger. He's just been testing the waters with us." He had to pause his speech when he spotted another slash from Noro's Kagune come their way from a revere horizontal motion. Luckily for them that Vent had been able to block it, raising his arms upwards and empowering them with Negatron. The Kagune slammed into the back of his forearms, making the teen cringe at the impact, the impact that sent him flying across the area.

"Vent!"

"Just go!"

The girls cried out his name, only for the male to shout for them to go on ahead. All of them looked at each other uncertain, until IF eventually persuaded them that they didn't have much of an option. Vent could be quite stubborn when it came to the Ghoul species, since he knew them better than anyone else in their little group. "Come on guys, let's just go. Vent wouldn't do this unless he knew what he was doing. Plus, we gotta get the Mascot back to the seal." The brunette had stated, finally getting the group to do what he had told them to.

With that, they began making their way forth towards their Goal. They expected Noro to try and attack them on the way, though, so they had been prepared to counter that Kagune of his… only, Noro didn't even try to stop them, he just let them pass him by without much of an issue. Parts of them wondered why that was, but not looking a gift horse in the mouth made them press onwards to their goal…

Meanwhile, Vent gave a groan as he stood and faced Noro, a grimace on his features. Everything, Ghoul instincts and his natural experiences told him he would be in for the fight of his life.

Poor guy just didn't get how right he really was.

* * *

After what felt like ages, the Party finally stopped running to catch their breaths. To them, it had felt like an eternity, however in reality it had only been 10 minutes and it seemed that they had gotten away safely. Those few moments had done a great job of setting their nerves into overdrive alright, even if Noro hadn't attacked them, the possibility had refused to leave their minds. Ghouls WERE quite unpredictable creatures to them after all. Fortunately, nothing had happened, something that both relieved and unnerved the Party members. "#pant#... #pant#... whew, we made it… #pant# #pant#" Compa wheezed heavily, holding a hand over her burning chest that screamed and pleaded for a break right now. "My lungs… need water… they are… on fire…"

"You got that right, Nurse wifey." RED nodded her head in agreement, looking down at the ground with her hands on her bent knees. She soon lost what little balance she had retained thanks to all that running draining her stamina, as she fell backwards onto her backside. "Ouchies, my bum…" she moaned painfully, rubbing her backside close to where she hit it. She hoped it didn't get bruised from all the beatings it took before, and probably would continue to take for the duration of their little stay in this Dungeon. "Ooooooh… are we there yet, I'm tired already." She whined pathetically.

Everyone sweat dropped at the redhead's mannerisms, but none of them could really disagree with her sentiment. After all, they may have sorta expected fierce Ghoul resistance, but this much had NOT been what they'd expected. It completely blew their minds out of the water with how deadly those guys were. Then, they had to leave one of their Party members behind, one who arguably knew the most about this race…

Not a good feeling, on multiple accounts.

Looking around, IF gauged their surroundings, her eyes shining with recognition while scowling in thought. "Looks like we're back on the main path…" She remarked with her scowl only deepening. This path looked quite familiar to her, as it seemed to be the same one they'd taken the first time they explored the World Labyrinth. The area they were in however, seemed more like a medium sized clearing than anything else, a clearing with blocks acting as the ground without any walls to stop them from being knocked down to wherever was below. Hopefully they wouldn't get caught up in a battle here, but IF wouldn't be holding her breath. A: she'd refuse to jinx them, and B: Their luck hadn't been that great thus far.

A worried look crossed onto Nepgear's face as she looked around the area, holding a hand over her chest as she checked for any signs of an ambush. "Uh oh, that could mean more Ghouls…" she whimpered in dismay, her lower lip trembling at the thought. Ghouls were dangerous creatures to fight, and every time they did Nepgear always felt like she's just dodged a near-death experience after going into cardiac arrest when the battles were over. "I hope we don't run into any more of them…"

"Broccoli thinks that will happen no matter what, Nyu." Broccoli couldn't help but remark with a flat expression. She hadn't been in the party for long, and already she had familiarised herself with how abysmal their luck had been so far. She wouldn't say it, but she'd be willing to bet that they would be halted by more Ghoul attacks in the not so distant future. "Luck doesn't seem to like us very much, Nyu."

The Mascot bobbed up and down in the tiny girl's arms just before the Party could respond by unanimously groaning at Broccoli's statement. "Regardless, we must hurry. I fear that young Vent's sacrifice may be in vein if we do not head over to the seal, as quickly as possible."

"He's not dead, you know, but you got a point." IF retorted, more annoyed than she thought she would at the assumption the Mascot had of Vent being killed so easily. What was up with that? Shaking her head at those thoughts, IF stepped forth to continue. This short break had recovered a lot of her stamina already, perks of having such a nomadic lifestyle before meeting the CPUs and the others. "Let's go ladies, we don't want to make the readers think we're just some weaklings without Vent's help."

"Yessie/Yeah!"

"OH, I DON'T THINK SO, BITCHES!"

In that moment, all their confidence, their drive, every spec of resolve they'd built up fighting all those Ghouls before suddenly got shook to its core, the moment they had heard that mad voice break the silence like a blade through flesh. From the space in front of them, at least 30 metres away, out from the blocky ground came one Seidou Takizawa. The white-haired Hybrid landed on the ground before them, his feet lightly patting with predatory grace when they touched the solid surface beneath them. He'd landed in a crouch at first, before standing up and giving them an easy going grin… one that just made his mad expression all the crazier. "YO, SUP PUSSIES?!"

"Oh great…" IF groaned in dismay, slamming a hand onto her face with an audible 'SMACK' sound echoing throughout the Dungeon. "Not this guy again, I've seen enough of this guy to last several lifetimes." She moaned in despair. Not in the fact that she was willing to give up this attack of theirs, but more of the annoyance kind that they had to fight him again. Out of all the Ghoul's they'd faced, Seidou had arguably been the more constant threat of them all. Not discounting the threat the other Ghouls like Tatara, Yamori and the White Suits, but Seidou had the biggest impact on them.

RED especially.

That beat-down he'd given her, despite her ability to fight Ghouls on better terms now, still stung in her mind.

Worse still, was that every time that they'd encountered him, Seidou would either beat them black and blue until Vent could join the fight, or Vent challenged him from the get go to keep him off their backs. Now though, they couldn't do that. They'd lost one of their key players in the game early on, putting them at a major disadvantage. She'd hoped to not have to face this guy this time around, but like Broccoli had mentioned earlier, their luck didn't seem to like them very much.

A low whine escaped Compa's lips as she pouted in Seidou's direction. Not only that, but she also had the puppy dog eyes on full power: the bane of every man in existence. Nearly none could escape this fate, and she hoped that this Ghoul would be too different. "Please could you let us through, Mister Ghoul? We really don't wanna fight you…" she pleaded with him.

Seidou looked like he was thinking about it, if how he cupped his chin while looking upwards like a detective was any indication. This had been enough to fill them with some hope at least, and it seemed to rise more when the Ghoul gave another easy-going grin, "sure, sure, do whatever you want ladies…" he said in a sing-song tone, stepping aside for the complete packaged. He even beckoned them to move, speaking like a proper butler. "By all means, please go on in…"

In that moment however, his grin turned downright sinister as he yelled out "PSYCHE!"

Instantly, he appeared before Compa and grabbed her by the collar of her sweater, slamming a fist into her stomach to make her gasp and bend herself, saliva and blood escaping her mouth. Seidou then jumped back, with Compa in his grasp before the Party could do anything. "You really thought something as pathetic as THAT could change my mind? Wowee, you must be pretty worthless on the field, then." He sneered mockingly. "I bet that you don't do anything good for those broads over there but take hits for them. Really, such a useless, pathetic little wimpy weakling. Lemme show ya what the REAL WORLD is like!"

Right after saying that, Seidou began slamming Compa into the ground repeatedly, flinging her from the left and the right respectively like a certain big glowing green rage monster. He then slammed her fully onto the ground a moment later, letting Compa cry out in pure agony. Those cries only intensified when he brutally stomped on her melons with his right foot. His Ukaku Kagune emerged in the form of thin Tendril threads, ones that lunged towards the others while his Kakugan shined maniacally. "Hahahaha! C'MON, we haven't even STARTED YET! SCREAM BITCH, SCREAM FOR BOSS SEIDOU!"

Stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp!

Constantly, Seidou ruthlessly and Mercilessly stomped his Ghoul empowered foot onto Compa's chest area, right on her breasts as well. Each stomp released a powerful shockwave that only dug the poor girl deeper into the ground, regardless of her cries of pure pain and suffering. To make matters even more sickening, Seidou kept cackling like a maniac all the while, exclaiming "ATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!" Rapidly like a certain manly muscular fighter.

"COMPA!"

IF charged in first, pure rage flashing through her eyes as she deployed her claws and aimed for a slash to his head. Seidou however, predicted this and swiftly punched her right in the face with his Kagune wrapping around his punching arm, forming a series of threads that wrapped around the limb before ending with an extendable Tentacle that launched itself forth, slamming into IF with the full force of a Ghoul's physical ability. IF gasped in shock, pain and disbelief as she staggered backwards, only for the Kagune to lunge forth, grab her by the face before slamming her into the ground, raising her head and repeating the process several times. It then tossed her aside, all the while Seidou kept having his 'fun' with Compa's breasts. Fun that ended when he noticed a set of lasers incoming towards his face.

His Ukaku formed a protective shell before him, and he expected that to hold out against whatever initial assault the girls had planned. But, something hard impacted against the Kagune, sending him stumbling backwards from the force. "Whoa there!" An exclamation of surprise escaped from his throat, but Seidou had little time to react as his instincts told him to drop to the ground. Which he did… and managed to avoid a larger laser that would have blown right through his face like warm tofu. The White haired Hybrid grunted while reforming his Kagune into his Wing form, glaring at the source of the lasers: Nepgear, who now floated above the ground in her HDD form.

Said girl held her Gunblade like an assault rifle, not unlike a certain black haired girl from Lastation who liked guns. Her eyes shone brightly with anger-fuelled energy, her body bathed in a furious lilac coloured aura. She did NOT look too happy at seeing one of her friends getting the stuffing beat out of her like that, that looked to be for certain. There were few things that pissed her off beyond anything, and normally Nepgear would be a shy, timid girl with the 'girl next door' vibe going on. One of those things was seeing her friends getting pulverized like Compa just did. She'd done what she could by passing some of her Share energy into the Nurse to help speed up her recovery, which only left the vengeful wrath that overflowed through her system.

Speaking of said friend, Compa now lay at the feet of one equally pissed off RED, weakly holding a hand over her chest to cast a healing spell. Seidou even noticed the brunette he'd beaten up just now looking to be returning to her senses and getting back to her feet, electing a surprised sound from his blackened lips. "Huh, you guys are more sturdy than I remember. Hmmm…" the Ghoul/human Hybrid looked them up and down, as if he was trying to find something. That something apparently made itself known to him, cause seconds later his lips curved into that same sick grin he wore. "Looks like you broads have been hitting the gym, as useless as it may be."

"We won't let you hurt us anymore! We won't be afraid of you!" Nepgear proclaimed, shooting several laser blasts at him which he blocked with his Kagune. She glared hatefully towards him, gathering more Share Energy into her Gunblade's barrel while she got ready to attack once more. She had a whole load of stress she wanted to vent onto this guy, not just for what he did to her friends, but for what he represented as well. How he represented the same obstacle the Party had faced since their first encounter with the Ghoul Species and their subsequent losses. If they hadn't had Vent at their sides back then, they would have surely lost against them, losing their lives in the process or worse. That was something Nepgear never wanted to think about, yet it always appeared in the corner of her mind. She couldn't allow that to happen, no, she WOULDN'T. She'd be taking a stand today!

Seidou looked at the Party, eyeing their individual stances for a moment. It almost looked like he was sizing them up or something, which proved to be more true than they realised when he opened his lips. "Huh, look like you're not rookies anymore, you look to be on par with rank 2 Doves. Though, that still won't be enough." He remarked with a sneer, making the 'come' gesture while twisting his lips into a sinister grin. His Kakugan eye widened with glee to match the demented expression on his face right now, his Kagune shaking as if it was reflecting its wielder's excitement.

Nevertheless, despite the shivers of grim anticipation, dread and fear, travelling down their spines, Nepgear and the girls faced off against what could be one of their greatest nemesis's yet.


	41. Chapter 41 - A Bird's Talons

**Chapter 41 - A Bird's talons**

"C'mon Rom, we have to hurry! Otherwise they'll hog all the fun!"

"#PANT#, #PANT# Wait for me, Ram…!"

"Ugh, it's so annoying that Mina held us up for so long! Really, did she really have to spend so long lecturing us? What was she lecturing us for again, cause I honestly wasn't listening."

"Um… I think it was to do with safety…"

"Meh, safety smafety. We gotta move before the others get the drop on us. Sheesh, they coulda just waited for us…"

* * *

"Hey, um, Nepgear…?"

"What is it Broccoli?"

"Do you think we just made the worst mistake of our lives?"

Broccoli asked that to the CPU Candidate, whom was the only one left standing. IF, RED, Compa, all of them currently lay on the ground, unable to move and losing consciousness fast. Each of them sported various wounds and lacerations of different degrees with massive piles of blood pooling beneath them, injuries that she had done all she could to close up with her powers. Nepgear was of course, no Compa when it came to healing people, but she could still impart her Share Energy in order to help speed up their natural ability to regenerate. It was one of her Skills, one she could even use on herself.

Thing was, they had SEVERELY underestimated Seidou's strength, the strength they thought they could have taken on by themselves. They had made a crucial mistake, a mistake rookies to the battlefield would make when a string of victories get to their heads. They thought that, with the strength they had gained they would have been able to fight on even footing against a Ghoul of Seidou's Calibre. They'd been doing well against the other Ghouls so far, so why would he be any different? Of course, they had went into this fight expecting it to be difficult, memories of their last few encounters against him proved to them that he was a dangerous foe on the battlefield. However, their past victories? Well, they kinds clouded their judgement, the fact that Seidou had openly antagonized them after pounding the stuffing out of Compa before didn't exactly help things for them.

Still though, this was the result of their folly…

Broken, downed, immobilised. They had gone in without much of a plan in mind, mostly just what they had been doing all the other times they went up against Ghouls and other Monsters: hit them till they died. Not really a plan, but hey, it had worked before, so why not now? Whelp, now they were paying for that folly, a MAJOR folly indeed. Only Nepgear herself had few injuries, and it wasn't like Seidou had been pulling his punches with her, either. That Ghoul had been as vicious, as cruel and unrelenting as he had always been, if she hadn't gotten as strong as she had in their training Nepgear knew that her old self would have lost all her limbs. In fact, their training had been the sole reason why, while downed, her friends still had their limbs attached. Nepgear on the other hand, had the advantage of being able to hover and her high agility stat. Seidou could match her speeds true enough, but he had to be careful not to overtax himself, Ukaku Ghouls were said to lose stamina quickly thanks to rapidly draining RC Cells.

However, Seidou had one advantage over Nepgear that she DIDN'T have over him…

Experience.

From what Vent told her and the others, Seidou has had ample experience on the battlefield, both as a human and as a Hybrid. That experience helped him develop his skills further and further, but with the case of his Kagune, Sediou learned how to conserve his stamina for quick bursts, catching his opponent unawares while making sure to reshape his Kagune so that it drained his stamina at the slowest rate possible. Why else would he be able to form various shapes with it instead of just its base form?

Nepgear on the other hand didn't really like having to fight, even though she was no slouch. Therefore, she usually stayed within the Basilicom and being like the 'girl next door' type of girl. Whenever she DID do quests involving fighting monsters, she'd do them and make sure to finish things quickly. It was only when she began training for this adventure that she got her skills in battle an overhaul that she felt practically NEEDED to happen.

Though, compared to Seidou, a Ghoul Investigator turned Hybrid with much more battle experience than her despite his insanity, it was like comparing an ant to a boot.

"Man, what a bunch of losers..." Seidou remarked coldly, sighing in boredom as he stretched his arms above his head. Hell, there were even cracking sounds coming from his bones, sounds that made Nepgear cringe to herself. Good thing she was in HDD or else when would be showing her distaste for that much more visibly. His Kagune shifted behind him, almost as if reflecting his disappointment. "None of you were any fun…"

Nepgear briefly grimaced to herself at the man's words, but tried to ignore him as she prepared her next move. She had to pull through from this, it was the best way she could think of to continue their quest. They had to get to the Mascot's seal to stop the Killachines from activating, otherwise Lowee would be doomed, and then Gamindustri would be next. She held her Gunblade in a ready stance, something that Seidou noticed.

"Hoh? You intend to fight still?" he remarked, shaping his Kagune into it's blade form as his Kakugan shined brightly. An insane, twisted smile erupted onto his blackened lips while he pointed his Kagune towards her, intent on fighting it out with her. "Well then, try not to be as boring as your weakling excuses for friends!" he yelled, before blurring force.

Quickly, Nepgear engaged him in a bout of slashes after they met each other in the middle of the battlefield. Each slash piled on top of the last, releasing shockwaves through the air that shook the entire battleground. Their weapons became like a pair of blurs while the CPU Candidate struggled to keep up.

SLASH, SLASHL, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH. SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH,

SLASH, SLASHL, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH. SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH,

SLASH, SLASHL, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH. SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH,

SLASH, SLASHL, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH. SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH,

SLASH, SLASHL, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH. SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH,

SLASH, SLASHL, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH. SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH,

SLASH, SLASHL, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH. SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH,

SLASH, SLASHL, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH. SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH!

They went, circling each other like lions. Nepgear eventually broke back, firing series of laser blasts from her Gunblade. She saw how her Ghoulish opponent blurred out of existence so they passed through air harmlessly, making her go wide eyed at the speed this Ghoul possessed. Her instincts screamed at her to dodge, and Nepgear quickly strafed to the side to avoid an overhead strike from above, one that caused a large dust cloud to form from the epicentre.

From that Dust cloud, came many long, thin red Scaled Tendrils, each one aiming their sharpened tips towards her vitals. Nepgear had to sidestep the first two, twisting about and lifting her Gunblade to deflect the third one from stabbing her in the stomach. She then ascended and flipped over the last two. She then slid along them towards where Seidou was likely attacking from, firing several more laser blasts there.

However, that plan failed when 3 more Tendrils burst out the smoke, grabbing onto her by wrapping around her arms and neck. Nepgear gasped, feeling their tight grip on her. Before she could try to break free of them, the Tendrils lifted her higher into the air, let her dangle there for a brief millisecond… before slamming her into the ground with enough force to create a mini earthquake that shook the entire dungeon. They then tossed her into a wall, their owner walking out with a cocky grin on his blackened lips.

Before Nepgear could get up, Seidou had already closed the distance, grabbing her by the neck with a vice-like grip.

The Ghoul sneered as he tightened his grip to the point where she was struggling to catch her breath, kicking the air beneath her with her legs. "You know something? You really annoy me, like all fucking hell." He spat, his Kakugan eye making his glare all the more intimidating. The hate, the rage and the bloodlust mixing with a slightly insane expression terrified the poor girl to no end. "There's something that I think fits you to a T. You remind me of someone else I can't stand, someone from a past so blackened that I can't be bothered to remember. Between the first and the second is a huge gap. Being second is just a consolation for the loser. Yes, a consolation for them not to think that, as long as there's someone above them... they're nothing but a loser. The gap between a perfect 100 mark and a 99 is not just one point. You are so intent on rescuing your sister, that you don't think to better yourself. Up until this point, you have only seriously trained when there was a threat to you. You have no drive, no urge to get stringer for yourself, you're all about that 'power of friendship' bullshit. Now that I think about it, I told that to someone else, someone who's got as much worth currently as you." He sneered at the end, his Kagune reshaping into his blade as he reared it back. "Now, die with these pathetic weaklings, Mrs eternally second place."

Nepgear's eyes became saucers, trembling violently while her breath came in ragged gasps as the blade gleamed menacingly. 'I… I can't move… I can't muster enough strength for my powers…' she thought, watching as time seemed to slow almost to a crawl, her heart pounding through her eardrums. 'No… this can't… this can't be the end…' Her eyes slowly closed as a wave of helplessness came over her. She couldn't concentrate enough for her powers to work, thanks to this grip on her neck, and her Gunblade had fallen out of her grip when Seidou had pinned her to the wall, leaving her practically defenceless.

'I… I have to save my sister… I have to save the other CPUs… I promised Rom that I would help… her see Blanc again… I promised I would hang with Uni… this can't…' The threat of death loomed over the young CPU Candidate while Seidou thrusted his blade forth, aiming to spear her right through the head. If this were canon, she would have already solved the Lowee mess that is finding it's mascot and the Killachine problem, but sadly for Nepgear this was NOT that timeline.

Unless she could do something within the next few seconds…

Well, she'd be a goner.

She'd be dead, her desires dead along with every promise she made. She remembered everything that she had gone through, giving light to the saying of how life tended to flash before people's eyes at the moment of their deaths. Even now, she could feel the phantom sensations of a Kagune tearing into her as the Ukaku blade neared her flesh, mere moments away from impaling her, taking away her resolve.

Wait… Resolve?

Nepgear's eyes widened when that one word triggered a flashback in her mind, a flashback to where she and another Kagune user went at it the last few days.

 **(Flashback)**

 **The sounds of combat rubbing through her ears as the HDD form of Nepgear strafed sideways, avoiding one of Vent's Negatron blasts. The CPU Candidate retaliated by applying SHARE FORCE onto the rubble the blast left behind, lifting it into the air and sending it towards him with the speed of machine gun bullets, but the male just put up a Barrier that neutralized them.**

 **Nepgear, seeing this quickly closed the distance and swung her Gunblade towards his chest, aiming to send him flying. However, Vent stopped this by deploying a NEGA SHIELD, blocking her weapon from hitting it's intended target. Nepgear went to use one of her Skills, however the teen reacted faster, Negatron engulfing his leg as he went about launching a FANG BULLET into her gut. The attack hit home, Nepgear crying out at the force applied to the Skill and getting sent flying. She barely managed to recover in mid-air though, flipping about so she could land in a kneeling position, strafing across the air just above the ground thanks to the floating mechanics of her HDD form.**

 **Her senses went alert, and Nepgear looked up with a gasp to see Vent already at her, falling towards her with his fist and feet encased in Negatron. The male had been looking for a way to better use this power he had in a fight, and so far he'd come up with the NEGA SHIELD, this close combat skill he hadn't told anyone the name yet since it was still in development, and a couple others.**

 **'Wait, this is not time to be-' she thought, before interrupting herself by strafing sideways to avoid the overhead kick that Vent had aimed at her skull. The moment his foot hit the ground, the Negatron exploded outwards, creating a powerful energy blast that destroyed the ground around the foot.**

 **Sliding along the air above the ground, Nepgear generated a Panel to slow herself to a stop. She then raised her Gunblade and began firing laser blasts, something that had been done out of necessity as a Barrage of FANG BULLETs and FANG WAVEs. Skill attacks usually required a crud ton of SP to function, it was a basic Hyperdimension rule. It had been so ever since Gamindustri's foundation, but nobody had ever tried to break or bend that rule. Vent however, had other plans for that, as he didn't use SP like he did, which was a topic of debate in Lastation when he began showing signs of SP Skills after that fight with Underling. Maybe his Negatron had been slowly awakening from then and only looked like the normal energy that the rest of them used. Who knows?**

 **In the end though, it didn't matter since Vent was now slowly easing into it's usage, though Nepgear couldn't help but wonder why Vent had never resorted to his Kagune once? It didn't last for long though, since Vent refused to let up on his attacks, almost like he was actively trying to kill her.**

 **"You know, Nepgear, you need to step up your game…"**

 **"?!"**

 **The male's mouth opening and letting words come out caught the girl off guard. So caught off guard that she almost couldn't block the FANG WAVE that came after her. She'd just raised a Panel barrier a millisecond before the attack had hit, sending her sliding backwards across the yard.**

 **When she finally stopped moving Nepgear used her Gunblade as a support, her breathing hard and heavy as her stamina got drained heavily from that last onslaught of attacks. Slowly, she looked up towards where Vent was, and she could only gape at what she was seeing. Her eyes shook while her breath caught itself in her throat, her body beginning to tremble like a scared rabbit looking into the eyes of a hungry fox.**

 **There, Vent stood before her, his arms and legs encased with Negatron. The male had reshaped the energy, forming physical objects on those limbs. His arms had been encased and reformed into black claws with red outlines, twice as large as his regular arms and constantly crackling with energy. Each digit was as long as a shortsword, and was shaped like a sickle. As for his feet, the Negatron had formed a set of black and red energy Greeves that reached his knees in length, long thin Negatron trails rising upwards from them.**

 **"Ghouls will come at you with the intent to kill, we've seen this before but you hadn't actually experienced it for yourself." Vent explained, raising his right arm as the energy claw there began to shift, destabilizing into a simple mass of energy. "Up until now, you've only fought an inexperienced Ghoul Hybrid called Underling, the real thing is WAY different than that, so when that time comes you will have to advance to the next level."**

 **"Next… Level…?"**

 **Vent nodded, the male's right arm finishing its's morphing. Now, the Negatron had formed a large mouth-like structure on his shoulder, it's maw open to allow a large, lance-like blade to slide out and encase the rest of his limb. The weapon constantly thrummed with power, energy crackling forth through the blade before Vent made a simple thrusting motion… a motion that sent a large energy blast straight past Nepgear's head and into the ground behind her.**

 **"That face you're wearing, the face of pure fear and helplessness, it's not going to save you in a real fight against a powerful Ghoul…" Vent told her, his Kakugan and Human eye narrowing at the quivering, fearful expression on the CPU Candidate. "To fight against them on even ground, you have to have your own strength, your OWN drive. Saving your sister, toss that outta your head in that moment, only focus on the enemy in front of you. But, right now, all your sword speaks of is fear."**

 **The male's eyes narrowed sharply, his eyes almost being slit like while killing intent radiated from his form. "When you counter, it's because you fear being killed. When you attack, you fear killing, and when you protect someone, you fear you could let them die." After saying that, Vent raised his energy blade to the air, a circle of dust gathering at his feet while the killing intent began to become physical. Next thing Nepgear knew, her eyes became witness to how everything in the vicinity began to tremble and shake like it was suffering from an earthquake. The male's blade though, trembled the most, vibrating so fast that it almost rivalled a serpent's slithering. "At this point, all your sword speaks of, is senseless fright. And that's not good, what you do NOT need in battle, is FEAR. NOTHING will come of it."**

 **Each word Vent spoke made the trembling grow greater and greater in intensity, his blade vibrating like all hell. Pure KI filled the air like a harmful miasma, polluting it and filling the atmosphere with a severe heavyweight sensation. Sweat rolled down Nepgear's forehead as she regarded all this with a look of sheer terror on her face, something that made Vent scowl. "When you counter, you don't let them cut you. When you PROTECT someone, you DON'T let them die. And when you attack: You KILL. Understand? Don't you see? My sheer RESOLVE to kill you, is reflected in my blade."**

 **The two stared each other, one in fear and the other in dark determination. It felt like a super heavy silence, filling their beings with the weight of both those words Vent had said, and the weight of this battle. The male's body became still, calm while the effects his KI generated remained constant, his jacket swaying from all the air waves. His hair got ruffled by those same air waves, while he just stared down at his opponent with mismatched eyes. At this point, the trembling energy blade almost seemed like it was howling… no…**

 **It WAS howling.**

 **Something like that threw the CPU Candidate for a loop. Just how the heck can a blade howl like that? Like it had its own will, it's own drive, its own… wait. Nepgear gasped when she realised something, something about that blade the moment she recognised the tense pressure she felt from it. It wasn't as if the blade itself was making the howling, it was more like the resolve of it's wielder excited it and made it bring out it's fighting spirit. Energy was basically a proud extension of the body, and Vent's blade was made of it. So, it wouldn't be a stretch to say it could reflect the user's emotions to the point of seeming like it was sentient.**

 **All this information filed itself into Nepgear's brain, the organ processing the information at a quicker pace than normal thanks to the adrenaline coursing through her veins. In that moment though, Nepgear stopped being afraid, she stopped cowering and her body stilled itself. It was almost as if this revelation had been the epiphany she had sought, and Nepgear couldn't help but smile to herself. In his own way, Vent was right, saving her sister was important. There was no doubt about that. However, what good would haing a goal like that be, if she couldn't say she had the drive to follow through with every challenge? Normally, she would have a drive like that, but when it came to Ghouls like Seidou and Tatara, Nepgear had either Vent or the others to back her up. There would eventually be a time where she would HAVE to fight them on her own, and when that time came she just HAD to keep her courage up. That was what Vent was trying to tell her.**

 **Resolve…**

 **The resolve to swing a sword...**

 **The resolve to fire a gun…**

 **The resolve to use magic…**

 **Resolve…**

 **Resolve!**

 **Her eyes, once fearful, turned determined as Nepgear gripped the handle of her Gunblade tightly. She stood up proudly, a completely new air about her which Vent noticed. It didn't escape his attention as the girl slowly raised her Gunblade to the heavens above.**

 **In that moment, her own KI erupted forth like a volcano, blowing away the dirt beneath her as a circular vortex of air formed around her, making a circle of dust beneath her as well. The CPU Candidate looked up at Vent with determined eyes, her power button symbols almost aflame with power which gave them a fierce shine. Her Gunblade then also began to glow with a violet light, a light howling sound escaping it just like Vent's blade.**

 **Over at his end, Vent smirked, his eyes glinting in satisfaction. "Yeah… you're getting it, girl."**

 **Both fighters stood opposite each other, their blades raised with resolve burning inside of them like white hot fire. Both their blades howled and roared, like two lions readying themselves for a battle to the death. The two got into readying stances, staring into each other's eyes without blinking. It was almost an eternity, but finally, they both gave mighty war cries and swung their blades.**

 **Everything shone white at that moment.**

 **(Flashback END)**

That… may have been what she needed.

In that moment, just a millisecond before the tip of Seidou's Kagune could graze her skin, Nepgear let out a loud howl, releasing a large burst of Share energy as an explosive wave, forcing Seidou backwards and setting herself free with a large jerking motion. Dust and debris fell to the ground, forming small wisps when the girl slouched forward, separating herself from the wall. The CPU Candidate almost fell to the ground as she coughed, trying to get much needed air back into her lungs. She held her throat in her right gloved hand, massaging it and wincing. She would probably get some bruising there later, but right now she couldn't worry about that, cause at the moment she had bigger fish to fry.

Fish that was currently recovering as well.

It looked pretty damn obvious that Seidou had not been expecting what she had done, hell his Kagune looked to have been partially damaged by the Share energy wave, judging by how it had holes in the blade and it's tip had been destroyed. Bits of it's form could be seen hanging loosely, like shredded ribbons dangling from a ceiling. The Kagune quickly set to work regenerating though, something that made a sigh of relief escape the Ghoul human Hybrid. Shaking his head, Seidou scowled at Nepgear who was now back in her ready stance. "Well, looks like you have some juice in you left, after all." He remarked, placing his off hand in his mouth and biting on his fingers. Nepgear couldn't help the shudder at the sight, but kept her firm gaze on him for any movements to indicate an attack.

This was what Vent had warned her about. The difference between Seidou and those other Ghouls was as plain as day, and not only that she didn't have her friends backing her up this time. Power of friendship can be convenient, but there would be times when she would have to have her OWN resolve to fight. Relying on her friends just wouldn't cut it, not now, not when this was such an important battle. Thinking back on it, she had to admit that if Vent hadn't shown her what he did, she would have definitely lost this battle. She would have froze up under the intense bloodlust all Ghouls seem to naturally possess, what with them being natural born killers. Natural enemies to humanity.

Maybe she should think of a way to thank him, later.

Quickly, Nepgear sprung into action and began focusing, gripping her right hand into a fist as she threw it forwards in an arc-like motion. "Have a taste of my power! KINETIC SHARE BLAST!" She bellowed, her eyes shining with her power. The result: her sending a large burst of Share Energy to her target, dealing massive damage to Seidou when a purplish white explosive blast hit him full on, sending him flying across the floor.

SHARE KINETIC BLAST, another one of her Techniques she'd developed after hearing of how 'Starcraft' worked, or to be more specific how one of it's characters used her mental powers to send a powerful energy blast to deal massive damage to an enemy. She'd developed her own version of it herself, though she couldn't help the usual self-deprecating of her attacks being weaker than their originals.

Regardless, Nepgear didn't let up as she hurled one SHARE KINETIC BLAST after another at Seidou, keeping him pinned as she focused on getting ready for her next attack. She soon saw Seidou wrap his Kagune around himself for protection, so she decided on now to capitalise on the opportunity. 'There!' she thought, raising her hand to the skies and manifesting a SHARE STORM around the area where he stood. The result?

"GUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Seidou screamed and roared as the SHARE STORM burned away at his flesh, digging into his Kagune. "HOT! HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT! I'M BECOMING A SEIDOU BARBECUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" He ranted, rolling back and forth across the ground while clutching his head, his Kagune wrapping around him while repeating the word 'hot' like a broken record.

Cutting the power after about 2 minutes, Nepgear saw the SHARE STORM vanish to leave a badly charred Seidou lying on the ground, smoke rising from his form. Already his Ghoulish regeneration kicked in though, not even seconds after the Skill ended, with his flesh slowly losing it's charred appearance. Not like she would wait for him to be done though, as Nepgear swiftly flew towards him while activating FORCE EDGE, making her Gunblade much larger than it was before.

She made to bring her weapon down on him, but at the last moment his Kakugan suddenly shone through the gaps in his fingers, and soon after Nepgear had to pull back to avoid a series of Shards that would have impaled her skin otherwise. She landed on a panel she quickly generated, sliding along the ground till she halted herself before looking up at her opponent. Her eyes shone with her resolve as she quickly got back into her battle stance.

Unnaturally standing upwards, Seidou slowly exhaled with his head hanging low. A slight colourless vapour escaped his lips, his hair hanging over his bangs while his arms hung limply beside him. His posture, while not actually aggressive, nonetheless set off alarm bells inside Nepgear's mind as she gripped her Gunblade tightly. "Well… looks like you still have some juice in you after all, mrs second…" he whispered under his breath, so lowly that she almost couldn't hear it.

The moment he said that though, Nepgear began hearing the tell-tale signs of a Kagune emerging, but the Ukaku he already had out seemed to vanish before her very eyes. What the goodness? Did he have another Kagune she didn't know about? Was this guy holding back the entire time during their fights?

Soon enough though, she got her answer, and her blood ran cold. Remember that moment when she first met Tatara? Seidou soon began giving her hat dsame feeling, resulting in a mix of resolve and anxiety in her gut. Her Eyes slowly widened to the size of dinner plates whileher body started to tremble and her instincts began screaming at her that she should get the fuck outta here. Before her, Seidou's head gradually rose so she could see his face, his face sprouting various crimson Tendrils, each of them spreading across the left half his face and forming themselves into what looked like a bird-like Mask. It had a single Kakugan over his left eye, with a beak like structure while from his shoulder, a MASSIVE blade formed. "It's making me breathe hard… haven't been this way for a while, now… So then…" his eyes widened, shaking in twisted glee with a matching demented grin spreading across his lips. His Kakugan eye glowed brightly with sinister red light. "LETS PECK AWAY AT EACH OTHER'S CORPSES, PUSSY!"


	42. Chapter 42 - Madness and Intervention

**Chapter 42 - Madness and Intervention**

Things weren't looking good for him, and Vent knew it.

It was so bad for him that he couldn't help but laugh at how fucked he was.

The teen kneeled on one leg, breathing heavily while glaring with one eye closed towards the ever emotionless form of Noro standing opposite him. His Bikaku Kagune circled around him, coiling like a snake and giving it's equivalent of a sinister, mocking grin which made the One-Eyed Ghoul growl under his breath. Oh, how he would love to have ripped that mouth clean off that thing, even more so with his Kagune that he refused to use this entire fight, it would feel almost like therapy for all the shit this guy pulled on him for the entire duration for this fight. In any other circumstance, he would have probably done that, too. The whole time, the man had just remained within that one spot, that one spot he'd been in since the start of the fight. Whatever attacks Nico tried on him, they simply didn't even make him flinch, jump or anything.

It made him come to some startling realisations about this guy.

His near invincibility until he came up against the Quinx Squad in Re was NOT exaggerated.

Vent remembered in the Manga when Uta stabbed him from behind with both hands, about how there was a lack of resistance against his attack before he pulled back and the wound just regenerated like it was nothing. Vent now had first-hand experience with that, and he could honestly say he could understand EXACTLY what Uta had meant when he said that. Many of his attacks, be it physical or Negatron based, simply passed through him and his body would regenerate soon after. No matter what he did, tearing off his head, ripping out his organs, nothing fazed the guy.

Not only that, but the environment that they were fighting in wasn't exactly the type that Vent preferred, either. It was a substantially narrow area thanks to the cubes on either side. There had been so short a gap that the girls had to get through without them getting ripped to pieces by that Kagune Noro had. If it weren't for his own actions, then that guy would have succeeded in killing them and all this would have been for nothing. Honestly, Vent doubted Noro had any personal qualms about destroying them and the Mascot, simply through the theories about Noro's true identity.

There had been many theories circling around the internet about Noro, and the general consensus is that Noro was part of Eto's Kagune. One such theory he had read was that Noro was actually a dead rotting corpse that Eto's Kagune was inside of. There were many things to make the theorist believe this, for example there was a part from Tokyo Ghoul Jail, where according to Rio, when he encountered Noro he stated it smelled like a rotting corpse. Also the black nails Noro has, which as himself and many manga readers have already seen, Kaneki had black nails once because during his torture his nails were rotting turning them black. Another point of evidence would be that what happened after Noro's death and the Quinx Squad decided to unmask him, what they saw under that mask was a rotting face.

Vent himself found this to be an interesting theory to look into and consider, and he had more than once thought about this. Having faced Noro himself, Vent had found that the theory had more and more possibilities to be true as thanks to the fighting experience he had noticed things about Noro's body. For one, he didn't react didn't exhibit the reactions to being impaled. Also, the teen had felt a strong lack of heat whenever he struck away at Noro. Vent was no stranger to dead bodies due to his occupation before coming to this world, but he was pretty sure that those signs indicated that the body was dead.

Maybe he should call Noro a Zombie and see how he reacts.

Alright, jokes aside, Noro's Kagune was freaking brutal, it moved so swiftly and near silently through the air that it made defending against it hard as hell. He'd be barely able to do anything while it set about ripping off portions of Vent's body whenever he slipped up and exposed that body part. It's motions were erratic, fast and nigh-unpredictable. Made dodging and blocking it a hell of a lot harder than someone like Seidou or Yamori, that's for sure. He could see why those two would follow someone like him, both of them had similar 'law of the jungle' mentalities, one believing the strong survive and the weak die, yet the other believes in being the best at everything so they don't get picked off by others. A damn inferiority complex, one could say.

After so many consecutive attacks, Vent had been reduced to the state that he was in right now.

Want to know how bad he was injured? Here, let's list it out:

Left arm, gone.

Left portion of head, gone.

Right thigh, gone.

Right knee, mostly gone there was still a bit left from when it got bitten by Noro's Kagune.

Left leg, gone.

Stomach, half gone.

Shoulders, damaged severely.

Numerous holes in his body of varying sizes with his guts almost hanging out.

Bones protruding from his form.

Yeah, his state wasn't exactly the best right now.

Vent had honestly been surprised that he wasn't even feeling these injuries right now, though he soon attributed to his mind blocking out the pain otherwise it would be overwhelmed and he'd succumb to madness. He couldn't even feel any of his injuries right now, and at the present time he could only be grateful to that as he rolled to the side, avoiding his enemy's Kagune while making sure not to aggravate his body. It reminded him somewhat of that scene in the part one manga of Tokyo Ghoul where Kaneki Ken's mind, due to stress, began to hallucinate Rize while he was being tortured by Yamori during his captivity.

 **'** **Master, I think we may need to use our Kagune for this one.'** Rasen commented, frowning while Vent's Ghoul regeneration began tending to his injuries. Thin crimson strands began stretching over the gaping holes over his body. The bones began receding into him with audible cracking sounds echoing through the area, new limbs beginning to take the places of those that he had lost. Vent felt his RC Cells entering into super try hard mode in their attempts to restore him to optimal fighting potential. In moments, his body had finished restoring him to optimal fighting capacity, the last few bones settling into place while the last of the holes closed.

However, the male didn't really pay much attention to his regenerating body as he got too busy taking in what Rasen said. He would have made to respond with a hot denial, but he stopped at the last second. Not only would that have been a rather stupid move, but he also could see the logic in his statement. Rasen may be known for his bouts of psychotic rantings, but he did have some serious moments from time to time and right now, this was one of them.

Before Vent could continue, the Bikaku lunged at him from above. He quickly formed a Nega blade, an energy version of the weapon the Quinx Squad Leader Kuki Urie from his favourite manga, Vent swiftly backhanded the Kagune away from him. Although, sadly for him he had mistimed it and the Bikaku managed to chomp off a piece of his Negatron blade. The male winced at this as he twisted his body into a reverse diagonal slashing motion, something the Bikaku dodged by rearing back before it lunged towards him once more. Vent responded by jumping over it and running towards Noro with the intent to rush him. However, another Bikaku formed from his Kakuhou and bit into his newly regenerated thigh before he could dodge in time, lifting him into the air and slamming him into the wall beside them.

That attack dispersed his Nega blade too.

Groaning, Vent's danger senses spiked as he rolled to the side, avoiding both Bikaku Kagunes as they tried to finish him off by biting where his head would have been. His regeneration may be powerful and potent, but Vent wasn't willing to test if he could regrow an entire head, thank you very much. Gathering Negatron into his hands, the male shot his right hand forwards and launched a blast at Noro's face, a blast that got deflected by his Kagune.

This allowed him to distract the Ghoul so that he could reform his Nega blade, as well as form a Nega Claw over his left arm. His body crackled with energy as he launched a FANG WAVE at him, following it up with several FANG BULLET attacks. Noro's two Kagunes block and deflect them, though Vent used this as an opportunity to attack. He quickly activated his OVERDRIVE Skill and, with Negatron crackling violently around his form like a Super Saiyan in dragon ball Z, Vent dashed forth like a blur with a loud BOOM following him. The ground beneath his feet shattered from the power released, and like a lightning bolt the male closed the distance between them.

For a brief moment, dark green eyes bore into the hidden ones of the monstrous Ghoul, before the teen acted.

"Eat this, fucker!" Vent yelled, thrusting his Nega Claw into the Ghoul's stomach, tearing it out the next second before twirling around him and jumping away. Seconds later, dozens of slash marks appeared over Noro's form. The number had been so many, and so varied in sizes that it actually caused the Ghoul to buckle slightly from the assault. Vent smirked to himself, that one actually felt like he had made some form of progress there. That initial attack had released shockwaves ripping into Noro's body, wrecking it with internal injuries which were of no small scale. Then, he'd followed through with another barrage of strikes too fast for the Ghoul to dodge, though he had been resorting to Tank-like tactics from the beginning.

Turning around, Vent deactivated his OVERDRIVE Skill as he got into a battle stance and prepared to attack again… only to groan mentally to himself when he saw that the Ghoul had already regenerated his body back to full health. 'Oh come the fuck on!' the male roared within his mind as Noro once again began bombarding him with strikes from his Bikaku Kagunes. The sounds of loud explosions and the sight of dust trails left from the two appendages' wakes filled his senses, only adding to his annoyance and frustration.

It was like Rasen had said to him before, no matter how much Vent hated to admit it. This guy, Noro, he was far too powerful for Vent's Negatron powers to counter. Sure he may have been delving into them more, but the Ghoul before him had powers that far surpassed the Negatron in him at the moment. His biggest advantages were his Superhuman Durability, how Noro was capable of enduring wounds that would be fatal to most ghouls. He survived getting pierced by Uta, having his head freaking kicked off by Yomo, and being stabbed multiple times by Tsukiyama Shu of the Kaneki group. Said Ghoul had been using his Kagune for those strikes too, and it was a well-established fact that Ghoul healing was slowed if the damage was inflicted by a Kagune.

Next, was Noro's goddamn INSANE Pain Tolerance: Noro possessed very high pain tolerance, as he was unfazed by several severe wounds inflicted onto him. Hell, not ONCE had Vent ever heard him scream in pain throughout the Manga or this fight, and considering the type of damage that he had been dealt with through those times, it was a considerable feet to behold. Something that Vent had to force himself to reluctantly respect about the Ghoul.

He remembered how Noro was the adoptive father of Eto, the future One-Eyed Owl when she was an infant set to live in the 24th ward. Not a nice place, as according to the wiki it encompasses the deepest parts of the large labyrinth that the ghouls dug in Tokyo's underground in the past. It has also been stated by several characters, the most notable being Touka Kirishima, that it is by far the most horrible out of all the wards in Tokyo due to the difference in human to ghoul ratios. From there, the 24th Ward had turned more than a few characters into some seriously overpowered badasses in the series, such as Eto, Noro, Kaneki, Hinami, Naki, Shu etc.

The bottom line was, if Vent wanted to get past this guy and help his comrades fight against the upcoming defences, then he would have to resort to using his Kagune. A fact that, for the first time in a long while, kind of scared the hell out of him. It wasn't like the Kagune itself was a threat, nope it wasn't he had good control over it. The fact was, that the Kagune's mutation into one of THOSE was the problem. He didn't know what would happen once that THING was made, but what he DID know was that those girls wouldn't stand a chance against it. Let alone if they ever ran into a fully Kakuja-ed Eto on a bad day…

Hell, would be worse if they encountered someone like SHIKORAE, the DODGY MOTHER Roma, or some of the more sinister of Ghouls.

#shudder#

Vent shuddered at those thoughts. He actually shuddered.

This was a first, and he sure as hell didn't like it.

 **'** **Shit, DUCK!'**

Rasen's voice snapped him out of his thoughts just SECONDS before a Bikaku lunge would have bitten his head off, forcing Vent to bend backwards like Neo from the Matrix to dodge it. 'Shit! Note to self, pay attention more during a fight for my life like this!' the teen roared within his mind, side flipping to avoid the second Bikaku before jumping on top the right wall to avoid the first Bikaku's lunge.

Once again, Vent activated OVERDRIVE and jumped into the air, good thing too cause the two Kagunes had managed to bite into where he once stood just a SECOND before he had jumped. Like, literally his feet barely grazed one of them while he jumped, pumping Negatron into his hands to launch a barrage of energy blasts similar to the KI Blasts from Dragon Ball Z.

Noro's Kagunes blocked and deflected each blast though, their forms like blurs while a sea of explosions and dust clouds occurred behind him, for that was where the majority of the rounds had ended up. Though, this did the job of covering his field of vision in dust, something the Ghoul noticed far too late as he slightly glanced about. His neck made audible cracking sounds when he did this, as if the muscles there hadn't been stretched in a long time beforehand.

Fans of the TG universe would not put it past him.

Vent angled himself while the smoke considerably hampered the Ghoul's vision, before he shot downwards like a bullet with his Negatron reserves forming Nega Claws. They constantly crackled with energy, energy that was improved by his OVERDRIVE Skill, as he fell towards where Noro stood through this entire fight. He may not win this fight, but at least he could be satisfied in the knowledge that he would have forced him back even if it was a little!

Halfway between them, Vent saw the two Kagunes lunge towards him through the smoke, their maws open wide to try and take a bite out of him. The male responded appropriately, of course, by angling himself so the first one missed and he took a large chunk out of the second with his right Nega Claw. The teen pumped more and more Negatron into these forms, making them crackle with ever-increasing violence and instability. This would be it, after this if Noro survived (something that he didn't doubt) then Vent would have no choice but to do the one thing he swore to himself he wouldn't do unless absolutely necessary:

Use his Kagune.

With a mighty war cry, Vent slammed into Noro's position and a massive explosion of black and red Negatron escaped into the surroundings.

* * *

"Haa… haa… haa…"

Nepgear, now in human form as she was unable to retain her HDD one any longer, panted like she was drained of any and all liquids. She used her Yukihira as a walking stick for support, stabbing the metal blade into the ground and putting her weight on it. Her lungs screamed and burned, desperate for oxygen and a break from the carnage that was fighting Seidou in… whatever this form he had taken.

She had thought that those Abnormal monsters and those Ghouls had been a tough experience, but they had NOTHING on a Ghoul in this state, the different was as apparent as that of between the skies Goddesses like herself flew through and the earth that humans walked on. Hell, even that comparison felt like a drastic understatement in her mind to showcase just how messed up fighting a Ghoul like this was.

Seidou himself had been a hard foe to face before, what with his random, unpredictable movements and lethal Kagune that could pierce through her HDD form like it was nothing but a pillow to him. Not to mention his wild, psychotic nature that far surpassed the previous Ghouls. He had this furious fire within him that burned anything that got in it's way… even if that something wasn't it still got scorched. That just went to show just how little Seidou cared about collateral damage. Honestly, if he wasn't so strong Nepgear would have showcased her distaste for such a personality, but right now she A: had little energy, and B: she didn't want to antagonize him any further. She had lost count of how many times that, if it weren't for her training she would have bit the dust already.

Right now, as she looked up from her weary state, Nepgear eyed the pile of rubble of which Seidou had caused when she had knocked him there with her final strike in HDD. There were still crumbling sounds coming from it to indicate that none of the rubble had settled yet, and she could hardly sense Seidou's bloodlust anymore. That meant she had either beaten him (something she hoped was true, but most of her denied this based from experience) or that she had temporarily knocked him out. Even with her experiences, she desperately wished she didn't have to fight him anymore, every muscle in her body screamed in protest against more fighting, something she knew that would be happening soon enough anyways.

"That… was super tough… I'm glad he didn't get a chance to destroy the Mascot, but still…"

Soft groans from nearby reached her ears, alerting the weakened CPU Candidate and making her look to where her Party Members had fallen. Among them, IF seemed to be coming to once again, as she started lifting herself up evident by how she gripped the ground beneath her fingers. "H-Huh?... IF?!" She exclaimed, shocked at someone already waking up from being pounded as bad as they were. Quickly forgetting about Seidou for the time being, Nepgear rushed over to her friend, kneeling beside her while offering her shoulder for support. "IF, IF! You alright?! Please, be okay!"

"Ugh… Gear… I know you just got scared for my safety, but could you keep it on the down low? Kinda need my eardrums after all this." IF weakly groaned, reaching up and grasping the CPU Candidate's shoulder so she could get into a sitting position. The brunette's head ached something fierce, like she was constantly getting a hammer slammed into her brain at full force with no mercy. Her body felt similar, but even then she couldn't help but be grateful to be even alive at this point.

Fighting against an OP Ghoul like Seidou would do that to a person.

"S-Sorry…!"

Shaking her head, IF dismissed the meek CPU Candidate's apology while she put her arms on the ground behind her, leaning onto them for support as she hissed. "Ugh, this smarts…" she m uttered as sharp spikes of pain shot up her spine. Looked like she would need some major healing from that beat down she had gotten from Seidou, so she weakly raised an arm (ignoring the protests her body sent her) and opened her Inventory. Thus, she took out a bunch of Healing Pods and consumed them, feeling the rejuvenating effects kicking in. Normally she would have tried to conserve them, but the pain she had been in rattled her mind to the point where she just wanted it to be gone. The more Pods consumed, the better.

Soon enough, the others began to stir as well, their consciousness returning to the real world from their period of oblivious bliss from the harsh reality of their defeat. The first one to wake up after the brunette, not surprisingly, turned out to be RED. "Ouchies, my everything hurts…" she wheezed, holding her hip which throbbed in painful protest at the movement. She just couldn't hold back the urge to wince at that, either. "That enemy still had the drop on us, even after all our hard work. Now how will I be able to show my wifeys how awesome I am?"

"Pretty sure you'll get your chances, RED Nyu…" Broccoli remarked, coming too while Gama bounced over to her side. Fortunately she had commanded her friend to take the Mascot to safety and hide while Seidou hadn't been paying attention. Where did she have the Mascot hidden by chance?

BLAAAAAAAAAGH!

… Inside Gama.

The Lowee Mascot got barfed out of the slime creature's mouth, covered in saliva and other juices which it shook off… though judging by the energy fluctuations it could be said that the Mascot didn't appreciate what had happened. "This is the first, and hopefully last, time we will have to resort to such measures… I may have to become a hermit after seeing all that." It remarked, shuddering.

Broccoli gave a deadpanned stare towards it, as well as speaking in a matching tone of voice. "Oh suck it, Nyu. Its better than being dead, Nyu."

Before the Mascot could respond to that with a rebuttal of a rather… offensive calibre, Compa interjected into the conversation when she held her hands up in front of her, hands that were glowing with this green light. "Since we have a moment, how about we heal from our owwies? Its not good to go Dungeon crawling without being at 110%." She suggested with a sweet smile on her face, though what else was new at this point?

Though, she did have a point, they did need some serious healing, especially if they were going to have to fight more Ghouls at the end of this little incursion. That had all but ingrained itself into their minds at this point, if Seidou had been here then chances were other powerful Ghouls would be here as well. They would HAVE to be back to full health in order to face them, though none of them looked forward to that happening. Thus everyone nodded to the Nurse-In-Training as she proceeded to heal them…

"SURPRISE, BITCH!"

"Eh?"

WHAM!

Only for a shadowy figure to suddenly appear behind her with a spinning roundhouse kick that landed straight into the left side of her head. The force of the kick had been so great that a resounding CRACK could be heard throughout the atmosphere, time seemingly slowing to a turtle's speed while everyone else slowly became wide eyed with horror and dread.

In the end, Compa slamming her head into the ground hard enough to knock her unconscious again, broke the time lapse back to a normal pace, as well as alarmed the rest of the girls. "COMPA!"

"COMPA, NO!" IF shrieked, quickly getting up to move over to her friend only to get smacked aside by the figure, who was revealed to be a maniacally laughing Seidou Takizawa. The brunet crashed to the ground, sliding along it before coming to a stop. She looked up, glaring fiercely while her head spun from the sudden attack. "YOU…!"

"YEP, SURPRISE, BITCH!"

"YOU FUCKING SAID THAT ALREADY, YOU BASTARD!"

Fury coursed through her, especially at that wide smug and insane grin Seidou sported. She almost didn't see that the guy was still in that weird form that Nepgear fought, but she did and boy did she get a nasty surprise when she did. Everyone else also seemed to get the picture when they saw Seidou's new form, each of them taking a step backwards in shock and slight dread.

"Wha-wha-wha…?" RED stammered, stepping backwards and falling onto her ass. "What the heck's with this guy? My RED alert senses are going crazy here…!" she exclaimed, barely getting to her feet in time to jump sideways, dodging an overhead slash from Seidou's blade. The weapon smashed into the ground, creating an eruption of dirt and a shockwave that sent her along with the others flying. "And I just made another old reference!"

Normally they'd be responding to the attack by now, but everyone practically looked like they were on their last legs here. IF and the others had just woken up and they looked pure spent, while Nepgear had lost her energy and was unable to transform. They would need time to heal up, and THAT was not something this Seidou seemed to be willing to allow.

It seemed that they weren't the only ones who noticed, for the Hybrid noticed as well. Especially if how his face twisted into a disgusted sneer was any indication. "WHAT, THAT ALL YOU PATHETIC BITCHES GOT?! UGH, YOU ALL SERIOUSLY NEED TO VISIT MY WORLD, MAYBE THEN YOU'D GROW SOME FUCKING BACKBONES! AT THIS POINT, YOU'LL ONLY GET IN THE WAY OF REAL FIGHTERS LIKE THAT HYBRID GUY YOU HAVE!"

Okay, NOW IF felt like she was being insulted, along with everyone else in the party. The way that Seidou just casually stated that they were nothing but weaklings really rubbed her the wrong way, especially with how she had been training herself for the last three years so that she wouldn't be useless to the CPUs when they finally rescued them. Her brow twitched irritably, multiple tick marks over her head as she bellowed out. "Hey, just who are you calling weak, buster?!" Slowly, she stumbled to her feet, much to her body's protest as she shakenly lifted her Qatars into her signature fighting stance.

Apparently, this amused Seidou to no end, as he just cackled insanely while darting forwards, Kakugan eye bulging with bloodlust. IF nearly gasped at the Hybrid's speed, something much greater than what she had seen before. While her brain barely processed the question: what the fuck, Seidou slammed his Ukaku into her side in a reverse slash, sending IF flying.

He wasn't done there though, as he blurred forth and grabbed her by the head in passing, slamming her headfirst into the ground in a brutal fashion. "HAHAHAHA! HOW CUTE, SOME WEAK HUMAN THINKS SHE CAN BEAT A GHOUL…!" he sneered mockingly. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO FIGHT ME, PATHETIC GIRL. YOU'RE NOTHING LIKE THOSE IN THE CCG…"

Those words, filled with venom they were, hit the brunette harder than she expected them to. After all, she had heard from Vent that the CCG were humans trained to fight on level ground with Ghouls. To hear that someone like her, who trained for years, was not fit to fight against these guys? Not only did it feel like complete bullshit, but it slammed away at her pride without relenting.

Before she could counter his words with a rebuttal of her own, IF gasped when Seidou broke into a sprint, grasped her by her head, and went about pushing her headfirst into the ground to grind her through it. This resulted in a fissure being created beneath her which also generated a dust trail, pain assaulting every sense she had. "CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER, CHUGGER-CHUCKER!"

Her mouth opened in a wordless scream, eyes wider than saucers along with pain rocketing through her senses and refusing to let up. Not as long as the cause kept operating, and it wasn't likely that the One Eyed Ghoul would stop anytime soon. Especially with the mad cackling that he did whilst dragging her through the mud in the most literal fashion possible. Saliva flew out of her mouth during this brutal treatment, until finally Seidou finished his good work which resulted in him tossing IF aside like a ragdoll. The Guild Agent slammed into the ground with great force, black spots dancing across her vision whilst she rolled across it. Barely however, she managed to retake her consciousness from the sweet grips of oblivion, and rolled back to her feet to stab her newly summoned dual Quinque claws into the ground. Thus, she finally halted her movement, as she lifted her head and glared hatefully, fires burning behind her eyes towards the One Eyed Ghoul.

"OOOOOOHHH! SUCH A FIERCE GAZE! YOU'RE ANGRY, YOU'RE REALLY ANGRY RIGHT?! WOOOW, I'M SUPER SCARED… BAH, NOPE, JK!" Seidou mocked, mad laughter escaping his lips as he blasted forth with such speed that it made visualizing his form nigh fruitless. Raw power filled his blade which almost seemed to glow with the RC Cells funnelled through it, a wide and psychotic grin escaping his lips behind the Mask/Helmet he wore. IF quickly made to apply some Fire Magic to her claws, however he had beaten her to the punch and drove his blade…

Right into IF's gut.

"IF/IFFY NYU!" The surviving girls screamed like they were the witness to a horror show, fear and despair filling their eyes as the Ghoul lifted IF with his blade and tossed her aside, sending her tumbling across the floor and this time, she didn't get back up. Her form lay there, motionless as blood began to pool from the blow she had received. Fortunately, it seemed that at the last moment, IF had put her Claws, which had been partially inf

Nepgear had managed to take the spot of being the first one to rush over to her friend, unleashing a series of SLASH WAVE attacks to keep Seidou busy. It kind of helped that a furious RED had launched her own offensive at him with her Gunhammer, surprising Seidou with their ability to make explosive hits. Though, he had been more surprise by the amount of fury burning in RED's eyes when she saw IF go down the way she did, something that disappeared after a few seconds so he could engage her. Kneeling on one leg before her wounded friend, Nepgear quickly began to act. "IF! Are you okay? Please answer if you're conscious!"

"Guh… gack…ack! I-I'm good, Gear…!" IF's voice came out in a strained manner as she struggled to open her eyes, The brunette once again fund herself on the edge of unconsciousness, and this time it seemed to be returning with a vengeance, cause she had to struggle harder to keep herself awake. Even if she had barely managed to block that last attack in time, it still struck hard. She didn't doubt the fact that the blade could have ran her through if she hadn't reacted quick enough. Not to mention that new form Seidou currently took seemed way stronger, faster, and dare she say it, madder than before. She didn't think that had been possible, but whelp she just got proven wrong.

Would it kill to be right for once?

Soon, Nepgear raised her hands, which started to turn a dim, pale green colour, before she put them over IF and began activating her own healing Skill. It was something she had learned a while back from Compa, not long into their journey together actually. She wasn't as proficient in it as Compa was, since she had WAY more experience with it than the CPU Candidate did, but she could at least make it so that IF could breathe better so she could win the staying awake battle.

Her efforts soon bore fruit though, as soon enough the brunette heaved a heavy gasp as the wound in her gut finally closed up. Odds were that it would form a scar or something, but Nepgear didn't want to focus on that right now, she just stood up whilst helping the brunette to her feet by offering a hand, and then pulling her up. "I need to help Compa, can you help RED?" she asked her.

IF nodded her head in response. 'Looks like Gear's settling into her leader role…' the brunette thought with pride, before wincing whilst holding her newly healed gut. She would have made a snarky remark, but right now she had better things to do. "Yeah, I'll keep RED backed up, you go and bring Compa back to the fight. We're exhausted, but we're gonna need her healing to get through this."

"Right!"

Quickly, Nepgear ran off towards Compa's prone position with the intent of doing what she could to heal her friend. Once again, her hands began glowing a dim, pale green light as she began pouring her energy into Compa's wounds. She did it over the wounds themselves so the Skill would take effect at a quicker pace. Time was of the essence, she didn't think that her Party would last very long even if they were at 100% again, especially not against Seidou when he was like this. Vent probably could considering his Hybrid nature, but he wasn't here right now and as such they couldn't rely on him.

"Its okay, Compa! I'll get you back up and running in no time-!"

"Hey, what the heck are you guys dragging your butts for?"

"Oh no, you all are so hurt!"

Nepgear's eyes widened the moment two childish yet mature voices sounded throughout the Dungeon. Voices she had NOT been expecting to hear since she hadn't heard them coming when they had set out for this Dungeon. Quickly looking up, Nepgear saw two figures landing before her whilst quickly trapping Seidou in what looked to be a barrier made of Panels. A strong one, too. As the CPU Candidate began feeling energy wash over her, healing both her wounds and fatigue, she could only utter two words. "Ram? Rom?"

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Hey guys, sorry for the wait. I've finally went and uploaded this chapter whilst working on OEG.**

 **Like I said before, OEG is my main focus, but to those of you whom like OEK, even if there are few of you, I'll have this chapter uploaded so you can get more of a chance to see what will happen next. So far it looks like Vent and Nepgear's group are having their own difficulties, and then Rom and Ram show up.**

 **To those of you who think that Rom and Ram will do jack shit to Seidou, you'd be right. After all, they lack any kind of battle experience that this CCG Agent turned One-Eyed Ghoul has, and would just end up as mincemeat for him. However, who says anything about fighting him? There are other ways of dealing with an enemy instead of just fighting him.**

 **As for the group of girls taking him on when he has a Kakuja on? Whelp, they would die within seconds. doesn't matter if they are at full strength or that they have more weapons, Seidou would rip them to pieces, which is why I wrote the fight the way that I did. Now that I think about it, this was more like them trying to survive against him than anything.**

 **Hope you like the chapter, look forward to the next one. Leave a review telling me what you think.**

 **Peace out!**


	43. Chapter 43 - Underling Returns!

**Chapter 43 - Underling returns!**

"You know something…?" A weak chuckle escaped from IF's lips, exasperated and annoyance mixed in as undertones. She didn't feel this way because the two Lowee CPU Candidates were here, if anything she'd felt immense gratitude. After all, they had already proven themselves when they rescued the Party from all those Ghouls the last time they were here. However, that was just it, even though they had been saved, IF had come back here thinking that she could dish out some form of payback on these assholes, not be saved a second time. She felt like one of those dainty damsel in distress type of girls, and THAT didn't sit well with her. "This the second time that those two have had to save our asses… honestly, I feel rather complex about that. First it was Vent back in the first few chapters, now it's a pair of kids…"

Compa, whom Nepgear had managed to rouse awake with what little skill she had at healing, glanced over towards her friend, her mouth set in a firm line whilst her eyes swam with concern and understanding. She could guess where her friend had been coming from, after all IF had stated numerous times that she didn't want to feel useless and weak like when the CPUs got captured, or as powerless as she had felt when they had tried to save them but only ended up rescuing Nepgear. She remembered how the following night, IF herself had almost thrown a frustrated fit about 'all their hard work going to waste' whilst also being close to tears with the horrible sense of defeat looming over her shoulders, though Compa had managed to calm her down enough for them to let fatigue take control and make them go to bed. Even so, she didn't say anything, but merely nodded her head in IF's direction because of this understanding between them.

After all, the only one whom could understand the frustration she had, aside from Histoire, would be herself. Then, the Nurse's gaze went across the battlefield to their enemy, and a slight positive perking came onto her eyes. At least in this situation they had managed to do something good, she couldn't help but think, they'd managed to hold off long enough for help to arrive so IF could think of this as a way to measure up against these Ghouls. Not to mention the fact that they had managed to successfully entrap one of the enemies they had been fighting as hard as they could, yet didn't even get much of a lead on beating. Nameless Ghouls, they could beat, no problem with their current levels, but Ghouls of Seidou's Calibre seemed to be out of their reach for the time being.

That didn't mean that couldn't change.

Speaking of said One Eyed Ghoul, Seidou growled and roared like a demented patient in an insane asylum, constantly rambling on about things that none of the girls could understand whilst ramming his head against the Panels. Each time his head collided with them, a loud BOOM sound resonated throughout the area, ripping through the silent air like the animal that had made the sounds in the first place. Countless mad profanities and insults were thrown the girls way, many of them making the girls flinch or downright cringe. Not to mention that he flailed his arms and legs madly in a frenzied mass of punches and kicks to try and escape the barrier, but to no avail thanks to Ram and Rom reinforcing the barrier with magic. Still didn't stop him from trying though, especially with that massive blade he had for an arm.

"Woooooooowwwwwwww… someone needs to give that meanie some soap to wash his mouth out…" IF couldn't help but remark dryly whilst holding one of her aching arms. This guy seemed to have an even fouler mouth than Blanc did, according to what they had seen of her before her capture alongside the other CPUs. Heh, even COMPA agreed with the rest of them, and if that happened then one KNEW that the person had a twisted mind. "He has an even worse temper than Blanc does when she gets all puffy faced, usually when Nep does something stupid or tries to tease her."

At this point, Compa weakly chuckled whilst Nepgear sweat dropped laughing nervously. "In all honesty, at this point it'd take a lot more than this to surprise me… the comparison to Blanc though fits so well that I don't know what to say to that." The cream haired girl commented, getting an amused, if a little exasperated, chuckle from her brunette best friend.

Nepgear though, she just shuddered when she saw his rantings get louder and his hits become more frenzied. If the guy could hear their comments about him right now she didn't know for sure, but if he did then she did NOT want to have to fight him right now. Especially since SHE had been on the front lines when dealing with this insane Ghoul. "Please guys, don't say things that'll make him even madder…" she meekly requested while shuddering in dreaded foreboding.

"Don't be scared, my wifey Goddess!" RED proclaimed, suddenly appearing right behind the said Candidate with so many wounds on her, that it was a miracle that she hadn't passed out yet. Blood patches littered over her skin whilst she had various bits and pieces of debris lodged into her body. Not to mention so many blood trails coming out from atop her head that her skin should have looked paler than it was… as well as the fact that she should have conked out. Thus, it combined with her sudden surprise entry into the conversation, caused Nepgear to squeak in fright as she jumped away from the feminine redhead. "You're loyal RED will protect your purity with her lifey, so relax!" she proclaimed with a thumbs up whilst sticking out her tongue and winking at the lilac haired leader.

Broccoli, whom had managed to stay out of the conflict so far, then bounced over to them whilst her catty ride held the Mascot Disk in it's tail. If it had a body though, then the Mascot would have definitely gone green from all the shaking that Gemma unintentionally did to it. "RED has the 'break tension' perk, Nyu." She announced with her usual sassy yet child-like tone of voice. Much to RED's surprise as she stumbled backwards and fell onto her backside in a Compa-like manner.

All of a sudden, their usual (if not daily to the point that it could be seen as routine) ramblings received an uninvited guest, as a familiar annoyed pink haired transformed CPU Candidate quickly saw to it that they were reminded of their mission. "Hey, quit dawdling, you guys!" Yelled Ram, holding her Staff out which constantly glowed in a pink light. That alone, showed that she had still been funnelling Magic into the Barrier to keep the rampaging Seidou at bay. "We'll make sure this guy doesn't bother you, so get those dainty legs of yours moving!"

Thankfully before RED could lose it with the annoyance she felt towards the small Ram, another certain CPU Candidate intervened. "We can take it from here…" the shy yet serious HDD form of Rom commented, having casted several Healing spells to rejuvenate the rest of the Party, bringing them back to full health and with restored stamina. Although, with that combined with how she had been aiding her twin sister in keeping the Barrier up her voice had a mild indent of someone who was suffering under heavy strain. If it were just her, Rom doubted that she would be able to talk whilst maintaining the barrier, partly to do with her magic reserves and the prey she was trapping being leagues above her abilities. "You all go on ahead."

In response to the rudeness that quickly stretched through her patience, IF made to make one of her snarky comments towards the obnoxious pinkette, but then Nepgear's quickly made pleading expression gave her pause. For a moment, the brunette studied that look and quickly figured out what she wanted, but it didn't make what she wanted any easier for her. Even so, IF gave a reluctant sigh as she held her tongue, as no matter how much she argued against it, the fact of the matter was that the twins had arrived just seconds before they could suffer a bad end, restored their strength to it's optimal condition, and trapped their enemy so they could move on. Not to mention how they still had the matter of retaking the seal for the Mascot. With a low groan, IF turned away from the CPU Candidates and addressed the rest of the party. "Alright, let's get a move on, ladies. This seal won't retake itself. Let's move!"

"Right!"

"Um, do your best, you two!"

"Ugh, come on, Gear, stop dillydallying!"

With that, after Nepgear hurriedly wished them luck before being grabbed by the wrist and dragged away by IF, the Party of girls each ran off deeper into the Dungeon with the Mascot in tow, leaving the two twin Candidates behind.

* * *

"So… judging from those mad ravings, it looks like those broads got passed Seidou Sensei, and are now heading down here…"

In front of the seal, a certain Ghoul lay in wait for the Party to arrive. The Ghoul sat on the ground in the fatal position, arms wrapped around her knees so that they were tucked into her chest. Her head hung low, so thanks to her hair and hoodie, her expression remained unseen. The glowing light from the weakening seal behind her, once a bright vibrant radiance, now looked much duller, with much of its radiance lost thanks to the power source being taken away from it for so long. However, that was none of the Ghoul's concern.

No longer would she be like how she was before. No longer would she be a weakling who can't do anything right. Her human life had been one filed with sucking up towards others, just for either a place to stay, food to eat, and some form of companionship. Looking back on it, she could admit to herself that this lifestyle had been one of the most pathetic existences one could ever walk on. No wonder everybody always made fun of her, they must have all thought her mere presence was all the worst descriptions possible. She remembered the looks of distain, scorn and jeering she got from her peers, how sometimes they would beat on her just for mild things like brushing past them. She remembered how they treated her like her life didn't matter, like she was nothing more than an ant to be stomped under their boots.

Back then, she couldn't help it, she had no choice but to silently endure the constant abuse, and when she joined ASIC she had felt like the faith she had in the CFW's would help make life better. Her faith didn't take long to blind her, and it did. She recalled her time before now, and couldn't find much different in comparison to before she joined ASIC. She still got treated like shit, she still found herself nothing but a small mere rat, unable to do anything herself. Hell, many people in ASIC found out about her little 'nickname' those broads and their sweet little boy toy had taken to call her, and now they would say that nickname behind her back. When she had been human, she likely wouldn't have been able to hear it, but now however…

Even so, all that would be put behind her.

No more, she would quite her life of being human. If being human made it so that everyone would always treat her like shit and walk all over her, then she would give up all her humanity, and embrace the monster inside of her. Her teacher told her that it doesn't matter if you are second, that only being the best at what you can be truly matters in this world. He'd told her this whilst pounding her face in with more than a dozen Kagune tentacles, pounded into her being with no regards to mercy. Her teacher had literally hammered it into her what she need to do from now on, she needed to get stronger, she needed to train…

She…

She must become…

The very…

Very….

Very, very, very,

STRONGEST!

But for now, she would wait. She would wait for those miserable brats until they would arrive, and then she would take more pleasure than she probably should in killing them. Oh, how she would RELISH in their blood on her hands, their flesh sliding down her throat and quenching her thirst for vengeance and… other fluids. She'd like it even more if she could eat the one they called Vent too, but if he didn't show then it wouldn't be a big deal.

Not to mention that at least her present 'company' showed himself to be more 'civil' than the rest of them… once she beat some sense into him when he had tried to claim her as one of his 'lovers'. He went pretty crazy after that, even unleashed his Kagune and then made to go further, however she had finished him off before he could.

The others said he had been one of the weaker of their kind, but nonetheless, it felt GRAND to be able to fight against them at all at this point.

'Alright, ya broads…!' Underling sneered, her lone Kakugan eye activating whilst she gazed hungrily towards the entrance to the room where the Seal would be located. She licked her lips as the thought of sinking her teeth into the necks of those annoyances. 'Come out of the frying pan, and into the fire…! I'll be waiting…'

* * *

Fight…

Fight…

Ghoul…

Fight… fight… fight…

Ghoul, strong, Ghoul almost invincible…

Must fight… must fight on…

Must keep going… must keep fighting…

No…

Not just fight…

Ghoul don't matter…

Not just fight…

…Kill.

Yeeeeeessss…

Kill…

KILL…

KILL!

KILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL KILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL **KILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL-**

DEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOUR **DEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOURDEVOUR!**

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"Runnin' in the 90's is a new way I like to be! I'm just runnin' in the 90's! Come on, baby, run to me! We are runnin' in the 90's, it's a new way to set me free-"

"Oh, stop that, RED!" IF yelled behind her as the group ran their way through the Dungeon, making their way through to it's depths. Aside from the occasional encounter with Ghouls, none of them ran into any monsters, normal or otherwise. Of course, in any other situation they would have found this odd, but in this case they could easily find out the culprit. Even so, their resident RED at the rear lines just HAD to start with some terrible singing. Something which got on IF's nerves big time, hence the reason why she yelled back. Not to mention… "You'll get us copyright strikes if you blabber!"

"But this is fanfiction, it shouldn't matter!"

"Quit it!"

"You guys, please stop fighting!" Nepgear begged, the said CPU Candidate running up in front of the group . Their composition was as followed: Nepgear up in front, IF and Compa behind her, Broccoli in the middle (how that short girl could keep up with them would be anyone's guess) with Gemma bouncing along beside her whilst carrying the Mascot with it's Tail, and RED chugging along behind them whilst brandishing her Gunhammer.

RED had REALLY taken to that Gunhammer of hers, as more than a few times when they encountered Ghouls, did she manage to send them packing with a combination of golf-club swings from her Gunhammer. The image of RED with a golfer's outfit whacking away Ghouls like they were the small balls in said activity could never leave Nepgear's mind, and part of her didn't want it to since it looked so amusing. Heck, even IF had a small smirk when it happened, whilst Compa and Broccoli suppressed their amused giggles.

Though, this largely had to be because it allowed them, especially RED, to vent her frustration with their own lacking of being able to fight against Seidou back there. That Ghoul had been the strongest, aside from Tatara, that they had ever faced, there was a whole world of difference between him and normal Ghouls. The difference had been so large that it wasn't even able to be joked about, something that ingrained itself deep into the minds of everyone in the Party.

Another reason why RED joked about too.

Even so, Compa didn't look like she was thinking about their recent fleeing from the captured Seidou, although the subject she DID think about did have some correlation towards it. "I hope those two will be alright…" she mumbled under her breath, though the rest of them easily heard her. It didn't take a genius to realize whom she was talking about either, the twin CPU Candidates of Lowee whom had arrived to lend them a hand in getting to their target destination.

The moment she said those words, what Vent had told them about Ghouls came to mind. Or rather, to be more specific the ones that he told the twins back when they were at the Basilicom. Broccoli furrowed her brows when she noticed a rise in tension from the other girls, something the Mascot also noticed. "Um, Broccoli is confused, Nyu. Why does everyone seem so much tenser now, Nyu?"

"Oh, its nothing…" Nepgear shakily replied, faking a smile when she looked back to the smaller girl. "Just something that happened a while back." She assured, though it didn't look like Broccoli believed her.

"Sounds like something serious, Nyu."

"That meanie Vent nearly scarred those twin CPU wifeys to death!" RED suddenly exclaimed, pouting with puffed cheeks and an angry look in her eyes. It looked like even though they had that talk with Vent, RED still held some animosity for the male's actions. Even the training that followed didn't seem to quell her emotions regarding that little… incident.

Looking over to her, Compa made to try the redhead down. Now wasn't the time for something like this, especially since they were in the middle of foreign territory like the Dungeon. "Now-now, RED. Ven-Ven did tell us his side of things, so can you really blame him?" she asked gently and in a pacifistic manner. "I know what Ven-Ven said may have been a big meanie streak, but he wasn't exactly wrong either."

Whilst RED looked at Compa with a face one only made when they were kicked whilst they were still recovering from a previous attack, IF gave a low groan as she too said her piece. "Look, we can all agree to disagree on this, even if we don't like what Vent said, it still doesn't change the fact that if he hadn't said it, those kids would have rushed ahead and then got themselves killed. They're kids after all, they're headstrong and think they know better when that's CLEARLY not the case."

"I must apologize as well, then." The Mascot said suddenly, causing the girls to temporarily stop their running and look to it. Heck, Gemma even lifted it upwards with it's tail so they could get a better view. "It looks like what myself and the young man known as Vent spoke back then has greatly damaged the bonds between you all. Whilst I do not regret what I said back then, I do apologize for the effect it has caused. It seems that the boy apologised before, as well."

At that, each party member looked at each other (aside from Broccoli and the Mascot) and began to nervously chuckle. "Well… it was less of an apology and more of him stating his reasoning…" Compa stated, lightly sweat dropping whilst scratching the side of her jaw.

"V-Vent isn't exactly the type to apologize when it came to things like keeping people aware of the dangers." Nepgear weakly added, putting her fingers together. She had honestly expected this talk to happen in the future back when Vent told them his reasoning, the talk back then had felt incomplete as they had to get started on training for this mission. The young Candidate had recalled what he had said a number of times, and found nothing that indicated that he had been sorry about what he had said. It meant that, unlike normal people, Vent didn't just say all of that without thinking, instead had intentionally said it regardless of how they would think about it. A lot of people who saw horrible things in the world did that, because their experiences had hardened them to the point of lacking empathy or restraint. That only brought up the question, did Vent still have any restraint left? "He's not the type to apologize for his actions, either."

Broccoli then hummed in agreement, crossing her small arms in front of her tiny body. "Broccoli agrees, Vent's a realistic and pragmatic person, Nyu." She spoke whilst nodding her disproportionately large head.

It was then, that the Mascot started to release sounds akin to a chuckle, various energy fluctuations indicating that had been the case, drawing confused looks from the other girls. "It appears that you all have a deep connection to each other, if you are able to tell that about a person." It remarked, before it's tone turned serious for what it said next. "Nonetheless, RED you need to understand that not everyone see's things the same way as you do, or as any of you girls do. Some of you view things in a way that Vent wouldn't agree with, just like the way you viewed his methods."

"Mou! I know that already, Venny told us that!" RED exclaimed as she threw her hands up above her head in frustration. Although, this only lasted about a few seconds, since she really couldn't help but lose the frustration bubbling inside of her like water on the boil. Her cheeks puffed out as she let her arms drop down to the ground, an audible pair of SMACK sounds emitting from her when her hands lightly slapped her knees from the movement. At that point, she gave a tired sigh, quite possibly the first one which had left her mouth since she began this adventuring with them. "Anyways, wouldn't it be better if he at least had a bit more tact? I mean I get that he's as blunt as a hammer, but he could be at least a little softer about what he says. Any softer all would be nice, and make him way more popular with the ladies."

At this, the other girls hummed to themselves as they thought of Vent without as much of his usual blunt, sharp remarks that had the 'no-nonsense' vibe to them. Pretty soon however, IF shook her head in denial, hands pocketed inside her trench coat. "Nah, I honestly can't imagine him any other way. If a certain someone I know were still here, then she'd say something like Vent's main selling point being his lack of holding anything back. He's blunt, but he gets results faster than a lot of us can." She remarked, and if she were honest, IF found this behaviour oddly refreshing, being the only sane person in a group of colourful characters like these girls would definitely give her a load of grey hairs. Therefore, she felt glad that she wasn't the only one, and had someone else to have a proper conversation with. Even if she had some reservations towards his way of doing things, it didn't mean she was blind to their results. Vent may be blunt and direct, a no-bullshit kind of person, but his methods DID produce favourable results, like Rom being saved from Underling's hand before she could even experience what being a hostage was like.

"Yup-yup." Came an agreeing nod from the ever so chirpy Compa, who just bounced on her step as she thought of the brown haired youth. She then frowned, turning a complete 180 as she recalled the last time they had seen the said youth: back when they had left him to fight against that man he had called Noro. "I only hope that he's alright… that guy back there seemed to be really tough…" she remarked with worry, all the while restraining the urge to look behind them at the path they had travelled along. Almost as if that would allow her to see the shrinking forms of the two mentioned males… even though they had already been long gone by this point.

Nepgear nodded her head, but didn't say anything in favour of the silence. Even if that guy back there had an immeasurable amount of strength, possibly way more than Seidou had in comparison, Nepgear felt like Vent wouldn't be losing that easily. His prior combat record stood on its own, but that wasn't the only thing. He had enough strength in his own right, not to mention an extensive knowledge of the enemy to use to his advantage, so he wouldn't lose against that guy as quickly as they would whenever fighting against Seidou. That… implied that she thought he'd lose, that wasn't exactly what she thought, instead Nepgear feared that he might not win, instead…

Moving on, before she dragged things down even more.

Determination filled her being like an organism sucking up ait as she acted. With a quick jog to the front of the Party, Nepgear twirled around to face them as she pointed to the direction they had been running towards before the whole conversation even began. "Anyways guys, we should hurry. The seal's not too far now, so if we make a mad sprint we can get there in a jiffy." She urged them.

"Ge-Ge's right." Compa spoke afterwards, nodding her head in agreement as she heard the sounds of explosions behind them, which likely meant that either Ghouls or other Monsters, normal or Abnormal, were returning to the Dungeon. "We don't have far to go now, guys. We're nearly at the end of this long-awaited chapter the Author's been working on in brief periods for weeks now!"

At the proclamation the young Nurse made, IF and the rest of them could only sweat drop. "Did Compa just…" the brunette began, only to get confirming nods from the others. Whilst she tried to get over the fact that her friend had broken the fourth wall much like how a certain Planeptune CPU did (something she'd likely try to scold Compa for if she got the chance… BIG if there though), she couldn't help but mutter something under her breath, something along the lines of "Good thing Nep isn't here, I'm not gonna open that can of worms around her…" before finally pushing that to the back of her mind and adopting a serious façade. "Alright ladies, you heard the leader. Let's go!"

* * *

Finally...

At long last…

The girls stopped their jogging as they arrived at the place where the Seal was located, and once they did immediately they could feel the difference from their last visit. Even the Non-CPUs could feel it, which went to show just how bad things had become. Heck, the very SECOND that they stepped into the general area, each of them got hit with a wave of suppressed energy, energy that came from the VERY unstable seal. The moment that it felt this, the Lowee Mascot, if it had a body, would have lost all colour and looked like a corpse on the verge of decomposing. "No…!"

Everywhere within the general vicinity, one could see a faint white fog condensing around it, not enough to hamper any vision, but just enough to be noticeable. In addition, the air itself felt almost suffocating thick, dense and heavy, like every molecule in it had become geared solely for the purpose of crushing everything inside it. One could attribute it to being constantly hit by falling skyscrapers and be forced to carry that weight for their duration within the thin smoke itself.

"W-Wha…?" IF became the first to speak, although just by listening to her voice one could tell just how strained she had to have been for her to do so. The brunette's brows constantly twitched and her form trembled, sweat rolling down the sides of her forehead at the feeling she was getting from this pressure. IF would not be one of those people inexperienced with Share Energy, after all she had been friends with multiple users of it in the form of the Goddesses. However, with all that experience, it took all her willpower just to keep herself conscious from the oppressive nature this energy had. "What the hell…?"

If someone like IF had that much problem, one could only imagine how bad the others took it. Heck, lets take a look at RED and… oh boy. "Whooooo… I dunno whyyyy, but I feel kinda sleeeeepyyyyyyy…" the redhead muttered in a drowsy voice, her eyelids feeling almost unbearably heavy for her. She felt like those people whom had reached the very breaking point of their struggles to remain awake, that one moment when their consciousness suddenly caves in an d they fall into slumber. Heck, the redhead even started swaying from side to side to showcase this situation she'd found herself in.

"Whoa, RED! Keep it together, same for all you guys!" Nepgear, in a moment of flustered embarrassment when RED fell onto her, tried to exclaim as she flailed her arms about in a panic. Out of all of them (Compa already looking like she was fighting a losing battle to remain awake with RED following close behind, now that she looked at her), she and IF seemed to be affected the least amount, herself more so than her brunette friend. What the heck was going on? That was the question that filled her mind right now, as she quickly looked over to the Mascot which began emitting a pale blue aura, an aura which coincidentally covered Broccoli along with her feline ride. "Um, Mrs Mascot? What's happening here, what's happing to my friends?" She asked with no small amount of worry.

Worry which got worse when she got her answer from the glowing Disk in Broccoli's confused grasp. "This is worse than I initially expected… the Seal seems to have been damaged to the point where the energy within it is leaking out into the atmosphere. This has resulted in the area surrounding the Seal to be covered with this oppressive smoke, and due to the nature of the Seal itself, the Share Energy has become a lot more oppressive. Instead of the gentle divinity that it should possess, likely from having to contain the evil within. Such an energy is not meant to affect common mortals like your friends, thus we must hurry unless we want them to suffer crippling injuries!"

At that point, panic began to fill Nepgear's mind with the speed of a cheetah, causing her heart rate to speed up to over 10 beats per second as she quickly jogged towards the Seal with Broccoli close behind, protected from the fog by the Lowee Mascot. Her form soon glowed brightly, and with a flash she had taken on her HDD self, never losing that look of pure urgency. The thought of having her friends, friends she had fought alongside for so long, be crippled in such a way left Nepgear with a horrible feeling in her gut which created an unbearably uncomfortable sensation.

All the while, even in their current states the girls all heard the Mascot's explanation regarding what was happening to them. "O-Oh no…! Iffy…!" Compa called out to her friend as she soon felt her consciousness near the final stages of slipping into blissful sleep. It was proven when she had her eyelids ¾ of the way to closing, something which the brunette noticed all too quickly.

"Tch, don't worry Compa!" The brunette exclaimed, pulling out… a folding fan from her Inventory and whacking her upside the head with it. That caused the Nurse to both reawaken completely, as well as yelp as a red bump formed on top of her head. "Sorry, but that was the only thing I could do!" IF yelled, proceeding to do the same to RED whom had already fallen asleep. Once the redhead girl got her consciousness back, IF quickly turned to Nepgear, her eyes shining with urgency as she yelled out. "Gear, you go on ahead! We'll keep out of the fog's general area till things are good!"

"Got it! Thanks IF-"

"HAH! SORRY TWERPS, BUT YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE NEAR THAT FUCKING SEAL!"

The silence got shattered like a hammer through glass when a loud, feminine and psychotic-sounding voice ripped mercilessly through the atmosphere. Instantly, Nepgear and Broccoli reacted instinctively, jumping back just a millisecond before something crashed down from the space high above in front of them, creating a large dust cloud before the damaged Seal which had both the Mascot and IF curse under their breath. "Tch, and we were so close too! What the heck now?!" the Brunette exclaimed. All the while, the cloud concealed the figure from view, though… several somethings soon cleared the cloud to reveal the figure's identity.

The moment they saw that person's identity however...

"Wh-What the goodness?!"

"Huh?! No way!"

"Eh?!"

"Whoa, when did the evil Wifey get an upgrade?! Did she follow the same thing we did?"

"She definitely got a makeover, Nyu."

"This is not good...! Not good at all!"

Each of the girls plus the Mascot all had their own startled exclamations and reactions, though if one could blame them they wouldn't. Not when they saw what happened in front of them. Before the Party stood a certain green haired female Undering... only... she almost looked completely unrecognizable.

Standing in front of them, the figure had hunched over with her arms hanging in front of her. Her hair hung over her face so her eyes remained unseen, cloaked by darkness. However,, her entire getup had changed drastically, consisting of a Grey hooded closed trench coat, one that ended in 5 long jagged tails whist having large pockets on the stomach. The hood was over her head, but with no mouse ears or nose though, with leather black gloves covering her hands. Beneath her coat, were a pair of baggy black pants which were covered from the thighs to her knees in spiked black buckles, whilst her feet were partially covered by a similar set of footwear to a certain psychotic One-Eyed Ghoul that the twin CPU Candidates took off the parties' hands.

Lastly, the woman had a... rather grotesque, fleshy looking weapon on her back, which they could see thanks to her hunched position. It looked just longer than she was tall, thus, it revealed itself to be a large, spiked Baton. The shaft itself had long, sleak appearance, with the end being at least half the length of her own height. Not to mention being slightly larger than the shaft, with many 6 inch long, thick dark red spikes protruding out of its form as well as the tip. Not to mention how golden lightning seemed to arc and dance through the small gaps between the spikes as well as around the Baton.

So yeah... unrecognizable, Underling was.

"...!"

Standing before them, Underling leered at her opponents, the crimson glow from her Kakugan being the sole indication of her stare as a serpentine hiss broke free from her lips. In addition, the hiss she just made sounded much more intimidating when taking everything else into account, such as her posture, her mannerisms, her overall presence which filled the room with this ominous tension that felt tighter than being bound by rope. She looked more like a fetal breast than human, especially with her body radiating an aura filled with malice and bloodlust so thick one could cut it with a knife. Just one small movement looked like it would set her off, making each of them try not to move even the tiniest of muscle.

Meanwhile, the Party just stared at her, absolutely dumbfounded. Although it did help them forget the effects of the damaged seal, so that was something at least. "Huh... is that... Underling? Goodness..." Nepgear questioned, confusion and nervousness ripe within her tone. She didn't realize it until after it had happened, but ever since Underling became a Hybrid, she had gained this aura about her which demanded that it be taken seriously, like it was one second away from utterly going bonkers and killing a whole load of lives. Not something she wanted to think about, if she were honest.

"Mou... evil wifey just got a whole loada crazy juice in her now..." RED couldn't help but comment, though it was only them who heard her since she deliberately lowered her voice so Underling didn't hear her. The memories of what happened between Seidou and herself when she said something stupid, combined with how Underling now reminded her of that Ghoul, made her incredibly wary of what would happen if she pissed her off. So much so that she just HAD to think with her brain more than usual, not something she would like to do often as her brain hurt like hell doing this.

"I'd... I'd say something witty about her like we usually do, but right now I don't want to end up underestimating her and getting my ass kicked." IF stated to herself, shuddering especially whens he aw that lightning. She didn't get why, but every instinct in her told her NOT to go near it at any cost. Not to mentions he couldn't anyways thanks to this fog, therefore it looked like Nepgear would be fighting Underling by herself, much to her frustration. "Anyways, what's with her? Something about her seems... off, and i'm NOT just talking about her change in wardrobe."

Compa nodded as she shook slightly, eyes shaking whilst she focused her gaze upon the silent, looming form of ASIC's lackey. Just looking at Underling right now, what with how she leered at them like they were sacks of meat, sent chills of terror down her spine, as well as gripped her heart in an icy cold vice. "Mrs Underling looks scary for some reason..."

After a moment of glaring at the girls, Underling Underling reached behind her, drawing her Baton (although where she had her Pipe nobody knew) as she leered at her opponents. "FINALLY... YOU BITCHES HAVE ARRIVED! TOOK YA LONG ENOUGH, NOW I GET TO POUND YOUR ASSES INTO THE GROUND!" She bellowed. her Kakugan trembling as she finally looked up.. and the girls nearly screamed in horror when they saw the maniacal grin on her lips. Underling's grin simply had the mix of a slasher, a shark, and a patient in a mental asylum mixed together... combined with a dose of Ghoul. The greenhead looked down again so only that smile could be seen, her shoulder trembling as she chuckled.. then exploded into full on laughter as she looked up to the heavens, looking like she had completely lost touch of sanity as her mismatched eyes almost bulged out her sockets. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA! YES, YES-YES-YES! NOW I CAN DO IT! I CAN DO IT NOW-NOW-NOW! I'LL SHOW YOU, I'LL SHOW ALL OF YOU FUCKERS WHAT IT MEANS TO MESS WITH ME!"

"KYA!"

Each of the girls minus IF, squeaked in fright as they jumped from the sheer volume of Underling's voice. It practically echoed across the entire area like the sound of a siren's singing, only it sounded worse than a mediocre singer at a concert screaming their lungs off. Out of sheer reflex, each of them drew their weapons like they were their only lifeline, their instincts quickly telling them that they'd be needed if they wanted to SURVIVE this.

Soon enough, she got over her laughter, though the blossoming insanity never, NEVER left her aura. Underling cackled, and when she did it sounded QUITE reminiscent of a certain raving Hybrid Ghoul, before she got into a ready stance. Her Baton now crackling dangerously with electricity. Her smile widened, evolving into a nightmare-inducing grin as her Kakugan shined brightly like a demon in the night. "YOU ALL BETTER GET YOUR ASSES READY! I'MMA BEAT THEM WITH MY TRUSTY NEW TOY HERE! NOW THEN..."

"Uh oh! Here she comes, Nepgear!

"LETS FUCKING PLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

* * *

 **Chapter End!**

 **Another OEK chapter complete! Interesting stuff has been happening right now, for one Vent's fight with Noro, while not shown much, definitely seems to be heating up, if you know what I mean hehehehe... who knows what is going on over there besides myself of course. You'll just have to wait to find out...**

 **Also, Underling seems to have gotten a powerup of some kind, whatever that is I'll likely reveal in the next chapter. But, you can bet your ass it has something to do with Monster Hunter, or rather a certain monster in that show. I'll let you guess on what it could be, but believe me once the answer comes in the next chapter, you'll DEFINITELY see just how much shit Nepgear and the others have fallen into.**

 **That thing's a freaking asshole alone, let alone in a group!**

 **Anyways, hope you enjoy the story, like, fav, review all that good stuff. Thank you to all the readers who actually read this stuff, I know its nowhere near as good as my other content, but I do try. Sometimes, I think that when people make crossovers with Neptunia, they know what they do with the canon storyline, but the other crossover franchise only exists as an add-on or something. Like with a lot of Kamen Rider/Neptunia crossover fanficts, not saying they're bad by the way, but if the series could be more intertwined with Neptunia it would be nice. Not to mention that for those fics, there are WAY too many. I mean, Crossing them over is fine, but one could stand to try the same with other franchises, which was the reason why I started writing this one. Tokyo Ghoul and Neptunia could be an awesome crossover if done right, the same could be said about other uncommon franchises. Give other ones a chance, they could surprise you all.**

 **Anyways, thats enough out of me, and look forward to the end of the chapter!**

 **Peace Out!**


	44. Chapter 44 - Who are you!

**Chapter 44**

It happened in an instant.

Underling, in one movement, dashed forwards with lightning trailing behind her form, almost as if sparks were flying from her form like she was the centre of a massive, violent storm. At first, Nepgear had thought that, as Underling approached her, she had been her first target. After all, she had the biggest threat level among the group since she had the most experience fighting strong Ghouls… But that soon turned out to be the very OPPOSITE in a couple milliseconds.

WHOOSH!

The CPU Candidate's hair fluttered in the breeze generated from Underling's movement, momentarily catching her by surprise. 'Huh?! What the Goodness?!' she shrieked mentally, confused on what Underling intended. She was the biggest threat here, why not just attack her first? Soon, realization dawned on her, nearly draining all the blood from her features before she quickly turned around to try and aid her friend whom had been caught by surprise at the instantaneous action. 'Oh no! She's gotten to IF!' that had been her thought process.

IF! The others!

They'd been weakened by the oppressive share energy!

If they were in 100% condition, they could have done something, but not like this!

She had to hurry, otherwise they could get seriously hurt!

Those had been Nepgear's thoughts as she hurried to turn around to try and give chase to the green haired ASIC lackey… though with her current state, Nepgear hesitated to call her that. Underling had massive hatred towards her, true, but it also got directed at the rest of her Party, including the absent Vent. There wasn't anything stopping her from going after them, so why not? But by the time she had managed to turn around towards the green haired woman… her worst fears came true: she had been too late.

At the moment that Underling had approached her, IF quickly summoned her gauntlets, though she had been slower than normal due to not having expected to be fighting so soon. Not to mention how the effects of the energy decreased her overall reaction time, which resulted in Underling doing two things: strapping her Baton to her back… then launching a super-fast roundhouse kick to the woman's head. The resulting impact created thus huge, colossal SMACK sound, IF Screaming in shock as pain EXPLODED from within her skull, sending her spiralling through the air and into one of the cubes surrounding the room, unconsciousness taking her upon impact.

"I-IFFY/IF!" The rest of the party called out, shock and horror filling their beings when they saw the few trails of blood running down the brunette's forehead. Not only that, but the sparks radiating from that Baton caused first and second degree burns all over her body, filling her coat and clothes with various holes in all sorts of shapes, thus filling the air with the WONDERFUL smell of charred flesh. Seeing something like this, pretty much smashed their previous thoughts of Underling into pieces, reducing them into nothing but chunks or remains.

"Huh, so this is what cooked flesh smells like. Huh, reminds me of smoked bacon…"

Uncaring about their opinions right now, Underling's gaze swept across the group to target her next victim. Her mismatched eyes shone brilliantly and terrifically in the lights of the Dungeon, the predatory glint in them sending no small amounts of chills down their spines. The small amount of spilt blood just then would NOT have been enough to satisfy her bloodlust, her Ghoul side demanded that she feast on more flesh belonging to the weak… the weak are to be trampled on, only the strong and the clever come out on top. Strength thus, was the most important thing…

Strength… Strength…

StrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthStrengthSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTH **STRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTRENGTHSTREEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNGTH!**

Deep within her, the madness that came with the Ghoul slowly started seeping into her, a slow trickle for the time being… but that could QUICKLY change at the drop of the hat. Soon, her gaze centred on red, and her mismatched eyes widened with dark, twisted and insanity-fuelled glee. She remembered that bitch, always going on about getting a bunch of fucking whores to satisfy her stupid 'wifey plan' or whatever. Well then, how about she show her JUST how pathetic that dream of hers really was?! With that in mind, Underling bent her legs as two Rinkaku Tentacles emerged, slamming into the ground as she propelled herself through the air at bullet speeds, each Tentacle vanishing soon after.

"Eek!" RED squeaked as she saw how fast Underling approached her, only having a second or two to raise her Gunhammer. Turned out that had been the best she could have done, since Underling raised a fist and threw it towards her head, intending to smash it inwards for her weapon's shaft to block it… although, the recoil from the impact sent RED flying. Underling wasn't done however, as from below RED a single Kagune Tentacle burst out of the ground, its tip having morphed into this twisted, deformed mouth with nothing but jagged teeth. The Tentacle lunged towards RED with the intent to bite into her waist and utterly rip her in two… only for RED to move herself just in time for her left leg to be clamped down on instead. "KYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

RED's frenzied shrieks filled the Dungeon, rivalling that of Banshees as a white hot burning feeling filled up every spot imaginable within her leg. It made her numb to anything else, including the mortified looks of her comrades as she desperately tried to slam the Gunhammer into the Tentacle in a bid to free herself. It definitely contained the desperate attempts of an animal caught in the grips of its predators' jaws… something which showed on her pain-ridden face as her leg ever so slowly became numb. A sign that she would be losing her leg in the next few seconds if things stayed the way they were.

Fortunately, her attempt managed to garner her freedom, as her Gunhammer smashed into the Tentacle just below its head which caused its eruption ability to activate. The ensuing fiery eruption which escaped from the Gunhammer shook the entire organic structure, as well as caused it to lose its tip along with a good portion of his body which allowed RED to escape further harm…

Though, that didn't mean the multitude of 3 Tentacles emerging after the first one didn't have anything to say as they lunged towards her.

'Not good! I just used up what little wifey power I could muster in that last strike! Please, wifeys your beloved needs you-!'

"RED!"

FWOOSH!

Fortunately, aid came to RED in the form of Nepgear, the sole immune one as she flew right by the Tentacles, slicing through them with her Gunblade before grabbing RED and carrying her to safety. However, it hadn't been a clean escape attempt, as Nepgear noticed when she cringed, feeling one of the Tentacles rip a gash through her right thigh, similar to that guy in the white suit which Vent had held off before. Underling howled as she ripped her Kagune out of the ground, growling like a feral beast. "UGGGGHHHHH…. THAT SLUTTY HOE-FACED BITCH… WHY I OUTTA-" She muttered under her breath, making to launch her Kagune at her once more when suddenly she froze. "WH-WHA?!" She exclaimed, trying to move her body but to no avail. Before she could freak out however, Underling noticed that her body had a small aura of Share Energy covering her, something she realized had been Nepgear's doing. "DAMNIT!"

Lowering herself to the ground close to the entrance to the seal room, as well as a few meters away from the berserk-like Underling, Nepgear groaned as pain burned through her wounded thigh, blood dripping from it whilst she still remained mentally focused enough to apply her SHARE FORCE. 'Underling will likely break out of it soon enough… I can feel her straining against my will already…' The CPU Candidate thought as she grimaced, placing a hand on her thigh to try and relieve the pain by putting pressure on it. That move had not been something she'd expected, but if she were frank, the it had been a good thing she had lessened the damage by moving slightly when she had, otherwise she would have bled out from the bloodloss. Not like her current situation was like sunshine and rainbows, but it could have been worse… much, MUCH worse.

Something which RED quickly noticed when Nepgear managed to lower her form to the ground, her face twisting in a pained frown when she saw the blood oozing down Nepgear's thigh despite her attempts to quell it. "Nepgear… you're hurt…" she muttered, shock filling her system behind her facial expressions. That shock soon got mixed in with guilt, as the revelation that she had been the one who caused Nepgear to sustain such an injury. The numbness in her leg however, soon resurfaced to remind her of its presence, something which Nepgear quickly noticed as well.

"D-Don't worry… I can still fight, RED… you on the other hand… need to stay away, Underling is… a bit much for you in your current state… same with the others…" IRONICALLY, Compa had been the one to direct the rest of the surviving party members out of the room, just barely evading the same fate of falling unconscious which befell their brunette Guild Agent. The Mascot Disk, Broccoli, all of them including the unconscious IF had been dragged out of there, leaving only herself inside the seal room. That would just have to be the case for now, since this oppressive Share Energy would limit their effectiveness immensely.

Fighting in these conditions would make them a liability.

RED wanted to protest at this, especially since her words pretty much stated that Nepgear would be fighting this Underling herself. How could she, RED the Wifey Hunter, stand it when she would let her own wifeys fight for her like this? It stung at her pride like a thousand wasps, but it wasn't like her injury would let her do that. Thus, no matter how frustrated she felt inside, she could only nod in understanding as she looked towards the young Planeptune CPU Candidate.

Said Candidate merely pressed a hand against her wounded thigh, her face twisting into one of cringing when she felt the sharp spike of pain accompanying this action. 'Ouch! This stings…!' Still, she pressed on and applied some of her limited healing abilities to the wound to stop the bleeding, but though the hole closed up thanks to this, bloodloss had already happened. She felt a mild sense of dizziness thanks to it, her vision slowly starting to spin had she not shook her head and forced everything into a stillness…

Just in time for her to perceive a strike from a lunging Tentacle straight towards her face.

"Oh no!" Nepgear shrieked, quickly responding to the approaching threat by bending backwards and ducking under it. She then shot away from her previous position, something which turned out to be exactly the right thing to do since more Tentacles burst out the ground from beneath her former position. If she hadn't then Nepgear would have been impaled through both her upper back and her right thigh. 'Something's not right here! Mrs Underling seems like she's acting different than usual…' She thought to herself in worry, especially as she ascended higher to get some distance between them. According to her previous battles, Underling could only strike with her Kagune and didn't have any air superiority to contend with her, so she SHOULD be okay…

Only, these thoughts soon got dashed when her surroundings darkened, the cause being the shadow that suddenly appeared behind her with its multiple limbs stretched out wide. Nepgear found herself INSTANTLY hit with a wave of wild, UNIMAGINABLE bloodlust like an explosion from a nuclear volcano, bloodlust which slammed onto her back like a massive mountain. Dread erupted within her chest as, with her senses heightened by these emotions, she felt like time had slowed down in this moment. Slowly, she glanced behind her, eyes nothing more than dots to see the equally small-eyed, wildly grinning lips of the green haired One-Eyed Ghoul. Not only that though, but when she saw what appeared BEHIND Underling, her heart felt like it had frozen itself in a block of ice as a sharp gasp escaped her lips.

"AHAHAHAHAHA! SURPRISE, BI-ATCH!"

WHAM!

"GYAH!"

A sharp intake of breath within a gasp of pain erupted from Nepgear's throat when Underling rammed her right leg into her in the form of an axe kick, sending her spiralling down to the ground below with the force needed to make a single-story house-sized crater. Alongside the searing pain, Blood spewed forth from Nepgear's lips with her eyes shooting open wide, her form bouncing lightly back into the air before Underling SMASHED into her from above, making another explosion.

From the generated smoke, Nepgear flew out with a few trails of Blood dripping down her chin, her body looking like it had gone through a grinder as she raised her Gunblade and fired within the smoke. From its tip which briefly shined as a warning sign, a shower of blasts erupted forth, peppering the smoke from where she had flown out from in an attempt to hit her opponent. She didn't want to wait a single SECOND before the smoke could disperse, since that previous incident taught her that Underling wouldn't wait for her to recover like she normally did. "This… This is way different from before…!" she cried to herself,, not really expecting any kind of answer.

Still, her movements seemed to be in vain when Underling simply charged out of the smoke, her blue Tentacles now being replaced with 2 MASSIVE wings, each of them shaped like the skeleton of a bird's whilst the remaining 2 had reformed themselves into… well, what could only be described as gorilla-like, muscular arms with large fists and matching forearms. Her Baton remained strapped to her back for the time being, even as crimson electricity crackled along its frame. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! WHAT, YA LITTLE SLUTS THOUGHT YOU WERE THE ONLY ONES TRAINING?! GET REAL, ONLY THE STRONG AND CLEVER GET TO ENJOY LIFE, YA LITTLE SHIT! NOBODY ELSE!"

Instantly, Underling had closed the distance between them, swinging her right Kagune fist towards Nepgear in the form of a right hook. Nepgear, knowing that blocking such an attack wouldn't be the best option out there, resorted to parrying it then ascending in one big motion, avoiding the following left hook. She made to aim her Gunblade and fire at Underling from point blank, however the green haired woman cackled evilly as she kicked the weapon away from her, hooking her leg around Nepger's arm and, using the momentum from her twisting motions, sent Nepgear flying away from her.

Once again, she closed the distance between them, but instead of her initiating the first attack, Nepgear took her chance and boosted forwards, launching a MIRAGE DANCE at her with the intent of slicing off her large Kagune fists. She swung, swung and swung with practiced speed and force, but sadly… she didn't manage to sever either of them. After all, Underling managed to block each slash with one fist each, twisting around her opponent when she made the final strike and smashing a fist into her back, sending Nepgear crashing into the ground.

"HAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHA! AAAHHHHH, THIS FEELS FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC! GUESS THIS IS WHAT VICTORY TASTES LIKE, HUH YA DUMB BROAD!"

When Underling yelled that out, sounds of flesh being shifted about resonated within her Kagune, as its massive fists seemed to… well, dissolve for lack of a better word, into these two formless masses, masses which mixed, mangled and spiralled together into one larger form. A form easily surpassing 10 feet in diameter, which soon completed itself to become what looked like a single long bulky Tentacle, complete with a massive rectangular cannon barrel instead of a tip that was as long as Underling was tall. "HERE, BITCH! TAKE SOME OF MY 'STRABERRY LOVE' JUICE AS A REWARD! SEE YA IN HELL!"

The Cannon took only a split second to charge, but when it did it fired a massive boulder made from hardened RC Cells, covered in long and deadly spikes that constantly sparked with electricity.

All Nepgear could do at this point, was hold out for her life as it slammed into her…

BOOM!

* * *

"Ugh… man, this blows…"

Upon regaining consciousness, IF groaned as she placed a hand on her head, cringing when she felt a throbbing pain within the depths of her skull. A pain which originated from where she'd been hit by Underling then tossed aside like yesterday's garbage. That comparison got followed by a sting towards her pride, though she pushed that aside to shift herself into a sitting position. This allowed her to just barely witness the approaching boulder fired from Underling's cannon before it slammed into Nepgear's position, her eyes widening and her jaw dropping at the ensuing explosion. "Holy shit…!"

"Mrs Underling looks like she's gone cray-cray…!" Compa exclaimed, fear and panic shining in her eyes as her body shivered uncontrollably. Especially when she saw how battered Nepgear appeared when the explosion vanished, barely restraining herself from going over to help knowing she'd just get in the way. Compa wasn't a fighter after all, so in a battle like this she wouldn't last even a SECOND. She didn't get much of a chance to heal herself, only managed a couple seconds before Underling slammed into her with her Kagune now consisting of one long Tentacle with a large claw on the end, smashing her into the ground with brutal force. "Yep, she's REALLY gone cray-cray! This Compa can't even look anymore, Iffy!" Unable to stomach any of this carnage anymore, Compa moved like a blur behind her brunette friend, who didn't look too good either.

Watching this for the first time, Broccoli couldn't help but shiver in horror and fear, her mind replaying images of that little 'cat and mouse' chase she had with those white suit Ghouls. True they'd been cruel as all hell, but seeing Underling like this… "Broccoli recalls you saying she was nothing but an Underling, Nyu…" she commented, doing her best to sound as chill as she normally did. But with some of the moves that he green haired Hybrid pulled like making her Kagune form as a lasso rope and pull Nepgear in when she tried to fire on her from a distance, only to perform a power bomb on her ass, kick her into the air, reform her Kagune into a set of arms like the ones she used before only to repeat the process… yeah, she couldn't see it. "But it looks to be the exact opposite, Nyu."

"Well, back then she wasn't so bonkers like this!" RED protested as she lay there, slowly recovering from her wounds. As much as she wanted to help, she had been stopped several times by Compa (and later by Broccoli as well), especially with some of the more 'painful' takedowns Underling did. "Something must have changed real majorly for her to become this way, otherwise this Wifey seeker would have never even considered her to be on my 'to tap' list!" she added, flailing her arms about wildly to express how frustrated and helpless she felt inside.

Looking at the brutal display in front of her, IF winced at each pounding Nepgear received, feeling just like she had when she had been unable to help the CPUs in their time of need. Not something she ever wanted to feel again, but apparently fate liked to make her its bitch, didn't it? As she watched though, an eerie discovery soon became apparent to her. "Hold on… is it just me or… do those movements of hers look like someone else we know and hate?" she questioned, fear seeping into her tone by the end of it as a horrific realization dawned on her. When she saw NONE of the others answering her but coming to that same realization themselves, she groaned as she face palmed herself. "That's what I feared, looks like that crazy guy Seidou got his claws on her. Guess this is the result…"

"I see…" The Lowee Mascot remarked, thoughtfully. "As brutal as this may be, this is not something unexpected if that is the case. I apologize, but while I know you all wish to help Planeptune's CPU Candidate, I fear that will likely only lead to our downfall. Putting aside the debilitating energy leaking from the Seal, odds are that you all wouldn't be able to put a SCRATCH on this Underling person with the way she is now."

* * *

Outside the Dungeon…

"Looks like a fierce one's raging up in this bitch…"

Several figures could be seen standing at the base of the tree-like Dungeon, each of them concealed by hooded cloaks. Cloaks which fluttered in the cool, calm breeze which contrasted to what they could sense within the Dungeon itself. Their numbers reached about 4, with one of them commenting on the situation inside which made this figure's masculine gender known whilst the other three remained unknown.

Though, that soon changed when another one of them spoke towards the masculine speaker. "Judging from what I'm hearing, looks like this is happening down within the depths. Hmph, reminds me of Cochlea somewhat…" the Speaker mused, revealing its gender to be female as the female sounded almost nostalgic when gazing at the Dungeon. "Also…" She then gave a glare to the speaker. "I should really apply some soap for that mouth of yours. I would have thought you'd outgrown that teenage rebellious phase by now, guess not."

"Shut it, sis…"

"Focus you two." The third cloaked person spoke three simple words, which seemed to be enough to calm them down before an argument could break out. This revealed a masculine gender, one belonging to a middle-aged man at least. "We have a job to do. 'THAT' guy is with them, and 'he' seems preoccupied with Noro. Whilst 'he' distracts him, we'll go do our own objectives, and if we encounter resistance, we terminate them, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah…"

Remaining silent until now, the fourth figure soon entered the fray, stepping forwards and, though the cloak concealed them, the figure's arms raised themselves up as if doing some dramatic acting as he spoke in a posh, refined yet flamboyant masculine voice. " _Tout le monde_ (French to English: everyone), we must make haste. Monsieur Leader gave us this task, did you forget? Let's educate these barbaric youths on what REFINED dining is like, shall we?"

"Shut up, classy gay."

* * *

Back with the battling Underling and Nepgear…

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

Explosions like ones one would find in a war zone echoed all around the area as Nepgear and Underling collided like two titans, smashing into one another with all kinds of attacks. After the initial combat where Underling totally wrecked her ass, Nepgear eventually active her empowering skill LILIAC OVERDRIVE to even the playing field between them. The skill concealed her within the familiar aura of the said colour mixed with white electricity, empowering her as she constantly traded blow after blow with the bloodthirsty, crazy One-Eyed Ghoul.

The young CPU Candidate, under the influence of her LILIAC OVERDRIVE, collided with two Tentacles belonging to Underling, constantly hurling out SHARE KINETIC BLAST attacks at any extra limbs trying to impale her, before she would retreat and unleash a SHARE STORM on her opponent. Underling, whose Kagune now formed her Wings from before, merely avoided it by flying out of the blast radius before it could harm her, exercising practiced aerial acrobatics to close the distance between them again to slam a barrage of Tentacle slashes on Nepgear's defences.

BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG- BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG- BANG-BANG-BANG!

They went, slamming into one another with the force and intensity of two mountains, one utilizing FORCE EDGE on her Gunblade whilst the other simply strengthened her Kagune to compensate for the power difference. Every clash that happened released these huge, powerful shockwaves which caused every aspect of their surroundings to tremble, as if they were quivering children before their arguing parents, yet neither of them took much notice of this since they solely focused on one another. Not even their comrades registered on their minds right now, their battle having reached such a scale where they couldn't afford to think about anything else other than their next plays.

Nepgear herself however, had a pickle on her mind, one which refused to abide by this mindset and constantly nagged her about its existence, Underling's form also helping it out. No matter how much she tried to deny it, the truth gradually became impossible for her to deny, and that was that she had to come up with a plan quickly, since things weren't looking very favourable for her, the proof being on Underling's back. Throughout their entire bout, Underling had not ONCE used that Baton of hers, merely sticking to her Kagune or close quarters martial arts. She relied more on the Ghoul side of her than anything else, though considering it was allowing her to go toe to toe with a Goddess Candidate like herself pretty much meant that was perfectly alright… for Underling, anyways. Not so much herself, though.

'This isn't good… Slowly but surely, I can feel Underling pushing me back. If we were on the ground, it'd be losing it faster than I can take it, not to mention that Underling seems to have gotten a lot better with using her Ghoul side now. I would dare to say that she could rival Vent with her skill… and it's not like I've been able to beat HIM when he goes Ghoully either…' She thought to herself, quickly raising her Gunblade and blocking an overhead slam from a Tentacle, then pushing it back to parry several fast and vicious CQC moves from Underling. She quickly unloaded a few blasts on her, but Underling merely vanished in a blur of speed, and Nepgear's instincts screamed at her to move so she did, which resulted in her pivoting around a thrust from behind from one of Underling's Tentacles. 'None of my attacks are even hitting her main body, and those that do hardly seem like they have any effect either…! At this rate, I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this up…!'

Underling seemed to notice this dilemma that her opponent had found herself in, and a sick smile formed on her lips. It sorta helped that, unlike Nepgear, she didn't look like she lost as much stamina, if any at all, which did NOT bode well for her trashy opponent. "HEH, WELL WOULD YA LOOK AT THAT: LITTLE MRS DOORSTEP SEEMS LIKE SHE'S FINALLY RUNNING LOW ON FUMES, AM I RIGHT?" she sneered, cackling at the brief look of shock that showed on the CPU Candidate's features for a moment. "HAHAHAHA, ITS SO OBVIOUS, ESPECIALLY SINCE THE 2500TH STRIKE WE'VE EXCHANGED THAT YOU'RE FINALLY BITING THE DUST, SO JUST TO DO THE WORLD A FAVOR AND ALL THAT SHIT, I'LL FINISH YOU OFF RIGHT FUCKING NOW!" She proclaimed, raising her right arm as if to reach for something…

And promptly grasping the hilt of her Baton.

The moment she did, Nepgear quickly mustered her strength and got into her Defensive stance, holding her Gunblade at the ready for any instantaneous attacks. Just from looking at that Baton, Nepgear instantly realized that blocking such a weapon, heck even TOUCHING something like it, was a bad idea. She'd read in some manga's how some Batons used by the law enforcement forces in them could be electrified, used mainly to incapacitate opponents. She figured such a thing was at work here… only amplified to WAY beyond safe levels and into the lethal territory. 'Whatever you do Nepgear, don't EVER let that thing touch you…' she chastised herself, not wanting to test whether or not her previous thoughts rang true.

In a second though, Underling had already appeared before her in a burst of speed, swinging her Baton at Nepgear's head in an upward motion. A sharp gasp escaped her lips as Nepgear reflexively strafed backwards… but sadly for her, that ended up being a bad move since a clawed Tentacle lunged at her from below, the first strike proving to be a distraction for Underling to restrain her. The Tentacle grabbed onto her back, digging its claw into her and holding her in place as much as Nepgear tried to struggle free. "Wh-What the Goodness?! Why did it suddenly…?!" Nepgear tried to shriek, the pressure on her body however making that limited. This strength she felt from it, it felt WAY stronger than previous times, so what gives?!"

"OH YEAH, I WAS HOLDING BACK CAUSE I WANTED TO HAVE SOME FUN BEATING YOU UP, LITTLE PRINCESS…" Underling sneered, cackling evilly as she pointed her Baton towards her. All the while, electricity began to gather around its, increasing in quantity as the seconds passed till one could hardly make out the weapon at all with how much electricity there was. Sparks flew from the Weapon's shaft, striking at their surroundings and leaving hand-sized burn marks wherever they touched. "NOW THEN, TIME TO FINISH UP THIS LITTLE PARTY!"

With that yell, Underling gave a mighty war cry, and to Nepgear's horror, she then appeared before her and SLAMMED the Baton into her right shoulder blade, instantly engulfing her with the electricity stored within the weapon itself.

What followed…

"KYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Could only be described as nightmare fuel.

A screech, an unholy screech EXPLODED out of Nepgear's mouth like a damn breaking. Dozens of electrical charges coursed through her body in quantities which would have killed any normal human. Flashes occurred over her body where one could see her Skeleton screaming in tormented agony. Electric sparks covered her skin, leaving heavy and lethal burns wherever they touched whilst her body felt like it was being ripped apart molecule by molecule.

All the while, Underling just howled like a crazed Banshee, almost looking like she would have an orgasm at the screams her unfortunate victim made thanks to her little strike. The Physical pain from her strike was bad enough considering how her swing contained her Ghoul-enhanced strength, her HDD Form merely helped her bear the brunt of it. If she'd been in human form, then Underling would have EASILY smashed her shoulder to bits just from that strike alone. But to have over 6000 Volts of pure electricity coursing through her on top of all that?! Yeah, the pain could only be imagined by those who were lucky enough not to experience it.

Sadly, Nepgear WASN'T one of those lucky ones.

Fortunately it only lasted a few seconds, but to the victim it felt like an eternity of mind numbing torment. Bringing the Baton away from her, Underling grinned in a sickly, disgusting manner as she eyed her handiwork with appreciation. Nepgear practically slumped over in the Kagune's grip, her form spasming constantly like she was still being electrocuted with dozens of sparks flying off her form. The calls of her friends, filled with horror and fear unmatched by what they've done so far, remained unheard by the young maiden since she soon lost consciousness, her HDD Form cancelling out to reveal her human one. The Transformation back to human DID manage to heal some of her wounds, the external ones so that her body could still somewhat function, but the damage dealt to her would need MUCH more than just that to heal.

Seeing this, Underling laughed insanely like a hyena, gripping her forehead with her hand to cover her eyes and rearing her head backwards whilst letting her tongue hang out. Raising the Kagune claw gripping the unconscious girl, Underling then set about smashing her into the ground below headfirst with immense force, uncaring for her state of being. The Kagune claw didn't hold anything back as it continued rubbing Nepgear's unconscious form into the ground like she were a cloth wiping dirt off it, gaining dirt all the while. The claw then raised her back up, flipped her so she was held by it through only her left leg, and begun repeatedly smacking Nepgear around like a ragdoll.

SMACK-SMACK- SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK- SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-

SMACK-SMACK- SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK- SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-

SMACK-SMACK- SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK- SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-

SMACK-SMACK- SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK- SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-

SMACK-SMACK- SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK- SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK!

By the time that Underling had finished her little bashing fest, she had her Kagune hold the limp-looking Nepgear up by the leg, letting her hang upside down… and BOY did her state look absolutely HORRENDOUS. Nepgear's body had deep, DEEP Lacerations all over, with numerous bone fragments sticking out of her while even more internal injuries wracked her body. Her limbs looked to be bent into unnatural angles, including her facial features which looked like they had gone through a paper shredder. It would be a miracle if she were even alive at this point, but the faint movements at her chest indicated this. Blood trails dripped from the lacerations, dripping down the body and falling down to the ground below.

In any other circumstance she would have begun gloating about her newfound weapon and powers, especially with how she hadn't even used that many of them and instead just relied on her Kagune to beat Nepgear. It would have been well within her right to brag about her recent, downright EUPHORIC glee-filled victory concerning her newfound ideology, but right now wasn't one of those circumstances. No, that mentality had been pounded out of her by her Mentor, replaced with his own thought processes. One wouldn't be exactly wrong with calling her a miniature version of Seidou at this moment. It was a good thing that her Kagune had immunity to lightning and electricity though, since it would have acted like a conductor if it hadn't when she'd done that strike, which wouldn't have ended well for her.

"STOP IT ALREADY!"

"Haaaah?"

Just when she was about to orgasm from the sheer bliss flowing through her system, someone screamed out in defiance, pretty much ruining her mood. Underling glanced to the side with her mismatched eyes, lowering her head and losing her insanity-riddled expression. Instead, she glanced towards the entrance to this place, where she saw a teary eyed, fearful yet furious look on Compa's face. The young Nurse had stepped into the room, despite the protests of the rest, unable to take the abuse she had seen her unconscious friend continuously suffer. Every slam had practically ripped a piece of her heart off and ruthlessly shredded it into nothingness. "Just stop it, Mrs Underling!" Compa shrieked, tears streaming down her face as she glared angrily towards the green haired Hybrid. "That's enough, Ge-Ge's out cold! You don't have to go so far!"

"Yeah, you better stop abusing my wifeys or else you'll face RED's wrath!"

"Hush RED, don't give the psycho Underling any ideas! Compa, get back here, ifyou et to close, you'll-!"

Compa didn't listen to what IF had fiercely and urgently whispered towards her, hoping that Underling wouldn't give her any attention for the time being. With the way things were, should Underling go on a rampage like she feared she would, then IF feared that things would go from bad to worse for them here. Unlike Nepgear, they had very little ways of defending themselves against Underling's attacks, since it looked like aside from Nepgear, their enemy appeared to be immune to this negative Share Energy.

"Hah, what kind of drugs have you been smoking, harlot?!" Underling snapped viciously, yet not so insane as she had been earlier. Her mismatched eyes narrowed at Compa, a single Tentacle from her Kagune lunging forth and… spearing Compa right in the gut, MUCH to the girls' horror. "There's only two things important here: the winner and the loser! The loser has no rights so the winners can do whatever they want with them!" she sneered whilst lifting the Nurse up into the air, pulling her in close so that their faces remained inches apart. "An now, since all of you are losers in this little game, how about I…?"

"Mademoiselle, I do believe that will not be a wise decision."

THWACK!

"Guh?!" A surprised underling gasped when, all of a sudden, several blurs INSTANTLY shot through the entrance, nearly knocking down the other girls as well. These blurs cut through Underling's Kagune like paper mache, one of them catching the fallen from of the CPU Candidate, the blur which caught her moving to the opposite end of the room. None of them looked too affected by the oppressive energies either, which absolutely flabbergasted Underling. "Who the fuck are all of you fucktards?!" she yelled, seeing the blurs stop moving after regrouping around the CPU Candidate. Underling also reformed her Tentacle, glaring heartedly with her mismatched eyes.

"Haah? Wow, a youngling attempting to be rude to their seniors, eh? Reminds me of a certain greenhorn…"

"Shut it, you, that 'greenhorn' as we call him can kick your ass from here to across this world."

"In any case you two, we have an opponent here on THEIR side, do not forget that."

"Qui! I never thought i'd get another délicieux meal like this in my lifetime! Magnifique!"

Each of the four blurs stared at Underling, making their comments known whilst they lowered the hoods of their cloaks. This allowed Underling, alongside the rest of the Party who remained conscious, to see their faces: Two of them were a blue haired man and woman with similar facial features, siblings maybe? The third looked to be a middle aged man with a bit of a beard on his chin, whilst the fourth looked… well, flamboyant would be the best way to describe him. No matter however…

"Why, we're just a bunch of coffee drinkers, don't you know?"

Since everyone focused on the Black and Red eyes they had, identifying them as one race: Ghouls.


End file.
